Morality Play by Barry Unsworth

Title: Morality Play

Author: Barry Unsworth

First Published: 1995

No. of Pages: 206

Synopsis (from B&N): "A medieval murder mystery full of the wonders of the time — and lessons for our own time — by a master storyteller. The author of the Booker Prize-winning Sacred Hunger turns to 14th-century England with a novel of foul doings. Fearing reprisals by his bishop after he breaks his vow of chastity, a young monk joins a troupe of traveling players. But when they come to a small town in the dead of winter to stage a morality play, the group is soon caught up in a drama of a different kind - one that involves murder."

Fiction or Nonfiction: Fiction

Comments and Critique: I couldn't put this book down. I got so caught up in the story that I finished the entire thing in one day. The author does a superb job of bringing the medieval setting to life, down to the smells one would have found in a common village of the time. The characters are completely believable, even though we're not given much backstory to flesh out most of them. By choosing to set the story in a period so long ago, the reader can't bring as many preconceived notions to it as one can to a modern story; while at the same time, the setting is so different from our own as to be almost a character in itself. The plot is also believable and the author has the acting troupe play the part (no pun intended) of unintentional detective, a way of presenting the story that is both unique and inspired. For one who enjoys murder mysteries, this one is definitely outside the genre norm, while the excellence of the writing will win over even those that would not normally enjoy a mystery.

Challenges: 999 ("Booker/National Award"); A to Z (author "U"); Complete Booker (shortlist, 1995); Support Your Local Library