In 1434, Joliffe & his fellow players are employed by Lord Lovell who sends them to Deneby Manor as a wedding gift. Deneby's daughter, Mariena, is engaged to the son of one of Lovell's friends. She was engaged before, but that young man died after falling ill suddenly & Lovell is concerned for her current betrothed & wants Joliffe to investigate. Lord Lovell was a real historical figure. Dux Moraud was a real play about incest - only fragments still exist. I really like the author's Dame Frevisse series and I like this.

The players are finally beginning to reap some of the rewards of having Lord Lovell as a sponsor, but along with the rewards come some obligations they were not expecting. They are sent as a gift to a household planning a wedding, but Lovell suspects all is not right there and asks Joliffe to find out what he can.

I enjoyed being with the players again. Their relationships with one another and their family bantering are good fun. I find the plays and the playing to be quite interesting, as well as the many details of life and living in those times. What I couldn't buy in this tale was the unbridled lust and licentiousness going on in the whole household. One or two individuals, sure, but not everyone! It didn't seem plausible that such a rotten core of a household could have such a good standing with all the citizens. ( )

Performing at the wedding of Sir Edmund Deneby's daughter, the player Joliffe has another task to perform--as a spy. As he uncovers the secrets of the Denebys' sordid history, it becomes clear that this wedding celebration is destined to end in tragedy.

These are the first two in a series by Margaret Frazer. Apparently they are a spinoff of her Dame Frevisse series, but since I've only read one or two of those, I missed that one. Joliffe, one of a group of traveling players, is also called on to investigate mysterious deaths.

In the first book, A Play of Isaac, the players are performing in a religious festival in Oxford. A merchant hires them to also stay at his house and perform for his guests before the festival. While there, they get caught up in the family dynamics there. Master Penteney has a married son and a single daughter, as well as two wards. The oldest of these is an 'Eden child', with what we call today Down's syndrome. The more deeply the players are drawn into the situation, the more complications are uncovered. And when a murdered man is found, only Joliffe can spot the murderer and clear the innocent.

The second book, A Play of Dux Moraud, finds the players in better circumstances. They have been adopted by Lord Lovell, and under his patronage, things are looking up. But it comes at a price - he sends them off as a wedding gift to an underling, but with a secret mission. The bride's previous fiance died mysteriously. Lord Lovell wants to make sure it doesn't happen again. This book is darker than the first, with nasty little secrets at every turn and a much more adult feel. It also has a more dramatic and tragic ending.

I liked the first book better, partly because the second was darker, and partly because I figured out how the title works. I don't want to give away too much, but let's just say that it's a strong hint about what's going on in the book. So the "dramatic revelations" in the second book were not a surprise at all. Some nasty characters in that one too. I think I will read the next one, as I got the first four from the library book sale, and see if that one is closer to the first or the second. I liked Joliffe well enough, so I'm willing to give it another try. ( )