Sister Frevisse tries to aid her outlaw cousin by solving murder in 1434

The sadness floats through the story.
Two days later, I increase the stars from 4 to 5.
Reflection helps. ( )

Sister Frevisse is kidnapped by a merry gang of outlaws in the forest. Well, perhaps not as merry as they would like her to think. One of them is her cousin, hoping she will sponsor him for a pardon from the king, but before that pardon comes through, there is murder, sickness passion and deceit to be dealt with, some of which are committed by the good Sister!

None of the characters, except for maybe Frevisse, are safe from Margaret Frazer's plots. She is good at writing characters, and good at destroying them as well, so you can't guess who the murderer is by whether or not they are important, kind or special. It seemed this story rather fell apart at the end, but not enough to spoil it. It simply went in a direction I'm not sure I cared for with a resolution which seemed rather high-handed to me. ( )

Sister Frevisse is away from the priory. She is abducted by a cousin who claims he wants to reform. He convinces her to write for a pardon, but while waiting for an answer, choices are made that will impede the success of the request. Sister Frevisse faces several dilemmas throughout her investigation although the ending wraps up too quickly to see the consequences of her choices. ( )