The Moneylender of Toulouse by Alan Gordon

Genre: Historical Mystery

Setting: France in 1204 AD

First Sentence:  "It's up here," said the landlord, leading us up a steep flight of steps.

This novel is the seventh book in the author's Fool' Guild series.  This series currently runs to eight books.

At the outset, the Guild seems a place where entertainers go to be trained as jesters or fools.  However, the fools in the author's tale act as covert agents.

Under the guise of being fools,  they gather and transit secrets.  They occasionally get involved with political and religious matters.

In this novel, our main character Theophilos and and his small family, travel to Toulouse. There they are to arrange for the retirement of the local bishop.  Once they arrive, the fools uncover scandal and murder.

Will the fools find the truth?

I enjoyed this book.  It was an interesting, fun read.