This is always a fine series with Frazer’s attention to detail, fascinatingly real characters and superb grasp of history, though it is seldom actually exciting - but there is a first time for everything. Every book has something different to enjoy and that is the new element here, as well as a look at London during the Jack Cade riots and a look at how Jews were viewed in those days. Racial and religious prejudice is never an easy subject to deal with, but by portraying the characters as with as many warts-and-all as possible they seem like real people. The hot-eyed friar is perhaps a cliché, but he is sadly a historically accurate one. I enjoyed reading about how a woman could be a businessperson in her own right (the Renaissance has a lot to answer for) in the Middle Ages, and the tense excitement of the riots had the urgency and immediacy of a news report. Surely the message here is "nothing new under the sun," and this topical flavour is imparted depicting a time of political unrest and religious intolerance. Top marks as ever, although the abrupt ending could have been better managed.