Margaret Frazer

Background

Margaret Frazer was born on the 26th of November, 1946 in Kewanee, Illinois, United States, the daughter of Fred James Brown and Grace Frazer Conn.

Education

Frazer attended Beloit College, the University of Colorado, and the University of Oregon.

Career

Over the years Frazer had various jobs, including librarian, secretary, a researcher for a television station, gift shop manager, and assistant matron at an English girls’ school.

With writing partner Mary Pulver Kuh­feld, Gail Frazer created the joint pseudonym Margaret Frazer to start a series of medieval detective tales featuring Benedictine nun Dame Frevisse. Frazer and Kuhfeld, the latter an established writer when the pair first met, discov­ered their shared interests during a meeting of the Society for Creative Anachronism, an organization whose members delight in recreating medieval and Renaissance history. Their fascination with old Eng­land led to the partnership, with Frazer plotting and writing the first draft of the books and Kuhfeld edit­ing, reworking, and finishing the novels. Frazer enjoyed writing the stories so much that she has continued with the series even after Kuhfeld pulled out of the collaboration after the sixth installment.

Readers first meet Sister Frevisse, a nun at St. Frideswide's Abbey, in 1992 "The Novice’s Tale" in which a poisoning brings the convent into conflict with a local family and a coroner.

Other books by the Frazer and Kuhfeld team include "The Servant's Tale" in 1993, "The Outlaw's Tale" in 1994, "The Bishop's Tale" in 1994, "The Boy's Tale" in 1995, "The Murderer's Tale" in 1996.

After the sixth novel, the works are written by Gail Frazer alone, and the name has subsequently been used exclusively by her. The second series of novels by Ms. Frazer set at the same time and place feature "Joliffe the Player", "A Play of Isaac" in 2004, "A Play of Dux Moraud" in 2005, "A Play of Knaves" in 2006, "A Play of Lords" in 2007, "A Play of Treachery" in 2009, "A Play of Piety" in 2010, "A Play of Heresy" in 2011.

Frazer also wrote Bishop Pecock Tales collection, “The Simple Logic of It” that was published in 2010, “Heretical Murder” and “Lowly Death” in 2011.

Achievements

• Frazer was a nominee for Edgar Allan Poe Award in the "Best Paperback Original" category for "The Servant's Tale" in 1994 and "The Prioress' Tale" later. "The Bishop's Tale" received a "Best Novel" nomination at the 1995 Minnesota Book Awards convention and "The Reeve's Tale" in 2000.

Works

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  • A Play of Knaves

    (In the spring of 1435, Joliffe and his fellow players are...)

    2006
  • This World's Eternity

    (Award-winning and nationally best-selling author Margaret...)

    2010
  • The Widow's Tale

    (In the spring of 1449, widow Cristiana Helyngton has been...)

    2005
  • The Simple Logic of It

    (The bright sun of the Wars of the Roses is painting the e...)

    2010
  • Strange Gods, Strange Men

    (Only sometimes, when the rain was falling or the gray mis...)

    2010
  • The Bishop's Tale

    (To the guests at the mourning feast for Thomas Chaucer, t...)

    1994
  • The Stone-Worker's Tale

    (When Frevisse is given bishop-pardoned leave to visit her...)

    2011
  • Sins of the Blood

    (Sins of the Blood collects three classic tales of Dame Fr...)

    2012
  • A Play of Piety

    (While his troupe leader recovers from grievous injury, Jo...)

    2010
  • The Bastard's Tale

    (It is the year 1447, and powerful men from all of England...)

    2003
  • The Boy's Tale

    (A dark lady rides back into the life of Dame Frevisse, be...)

    1995
  • Lowly Death

    (Come down the Paternoster Passage, cross the church's yar...)

    2011
  • Winter Heart

    (In the bleakest depths of winter, Frevisse finds her soul...)

    2011
  • The Outlaw's Tale

    (Leaving the safety of her nunnery walls behind, Dame Frev...)

    1994
  • The Hunter's Tale

    (In the summer of 1448, when Sir Ralph Woderove is found m...)

    2004
  • A Play of Dux Moraud

    (It is the autumn of 1434, and the end-of-harvest reckonin...)

    2005
  • The Reeve's Tale

    (The village of Prior Byfield is blighted with famine, dev...)

    1999
  • The Murderer's Tale

    (Caught under the tyrannical thumb of her new prioress, Da...)

    1996
  • A Play of Lords

    (In the late autumn of 1435, Joliffe and his fellow player...)

    2007
  • The Midwife's Tale

    (Cisily Fisher has died in childbirth and now the village ...)

    2010
  • A Play of Isaac

    (The year is 1434, and preparations are underway for the C...)

    2004
  • The Death of Kings

    (Join King Richard in his final days atop the rocky battle...)

    2011
  • The Squire's Tale

    (Years ago, young Robert Fenner was forced into marriage w...)

    2000
  • The Clerk's Tale

    (Dame Frevisse accompanies her prioress on a visit of merc...)

    2002
  • The Novice's Tale

    (In the fair autumn of Our Lord's grace 1431, the nuns of ...)

    1992
  • Heretical Murder

    (Dick Colop, student, and scrivener, knows those direction...)

    2011
  • Shakespeare's Mousetrap

    (Young Will Shakespeare has a bit of a problem: Murder mos...)

    2010
  • The Prioress' Tale

    (Under the harsh hand of its newly elected prioress, St. F...)

    1997
  • The Witch's Tale

    (Witchcraft has come to the peaceful village near St. Frid...)

    2010
  • Volo te Habere

    (Were Stephen and Catheryn married? They said yes. Their p...)

    2010
  • The Maiden's Tale

    (It is an hour of desperate need for St. Frideswide's. Thr...)

    1998
  • Circle of Witches

    (Her mother had always been afraid. That's what Damaris re...)

    2012
  • The Apostate's Tale

    (As the nuns of St. Frideswide's priory prepare for the we...)

    2008

Membership

Frazer was a member of Mystery Writers of America.

Interests

• Reading, acting, theater

Connections

Gail was married just once. She had two sons, Justin Alexander and Seth Gupton.

Father:

Fred James Brown

Mother:

Grace Frazer Conn

Son:

Justin Alexander Gupton

Son:

Seth Gupton