Published by Sphere,6 June 2013.
ISBN: 978-0-7515-4257-8
The prologue opens 1n 1356 at the
Battle of Poitiers, when new devastating weapons cause carnage amongst the
French troops. It switches to Cambridge
in 1358, where a venomous dispute is being waged by the masters of the
colleges, who have to vote whether to allow the foundation of a new common
library, which would allow poorer students access to important sources of
learning. This turns into a physical dispute when a book is thrown and strikes
Coslaye, the Principal of Batayl Hostel on the head, seriously injuring him.
Matthew Bartholomew,
physician and doctor of medicine at the College of Michaelhouse,
uses his considerable skill to save Coslaye's life, but still the bitter
controversy continues, even after the vote narrowly decides that the Common
Library should be built. Matthew had voted in favour of the Common Library, in
defiance of the wishes of the Senior Proctor, Matthew's friend, Brother
Michael. However Matthew is fortunate because Michael does not withdraw his
friendship. Many others who voted against the commands of their Colleges find
themselves isolated and almost outlawed by their colleagues.
It is while tension in
Cambridge is very high that people start dying, murdered, and Michael as Senior
Proctor, Matthew as Corpse Examiner and Sheriff Tulyet have to find out who has
killed them and why. In a hotbed of cruel academic rivalry and covetousness,
where many learned men are combining together in secretive groups to work on
different branches of alchemy, it is hard to pinpoint the reason for the
violence. Did the men die because they voted for the Common Library? Or was it
connected with the alchemists' work? Matthew finds his life threatened by unknown
enemies and cannot tell if it is because of his support for the Common Library
or because he and his colleagues once, accidentally, created wildfire, a fire
that could be used as a terrible weapon because it cannot be quenched by usual
means and sticks to its victims.
To make matters even more
confusing, Dame Pelagia, Brother Michael's grandmother arrives in Cambridge. Dame Pelagia is
one of the King's spies, a ruthless and clever woman. Although she claims that
she is now retired, nobody believes that her arrival at this time is just a
chance visit to 'her favourite grandson.' With Pelagia's arrival the stakes get
even higher and the death toll continues to mount.
Murder by the Book is the
eighteenth chronicle of Matthew Bartholomew. It is a dark, historically
fascinating book with a complex plot. It is a fascinating read and Matthew
Bartholomew stands out as a man of great integrity and intellectual curiosity
in a cruel and censorious world.
------
Reviewer: Carol
Westron
Susanna Gregory was
raised in Bristol.
After graduating from university, she spent three years in Leeds,
as an officer in the West Yorkshire Police, where she was exposed to numerous
unpleasant practices and grisly details, which have contributed to her
characters and plots. Upon leaving the police, she conducted post-graduate
studies at the University of Durham before earning a PhD at the University of Cambridge.
Her primary post-doctoral research has investigated environmental contamination
in the world’s seal population by looking at the build-up of pollutants –
particularly heavy metals – in the teeth and bones of different seal species.
She has also done fieldwork with whales and walruses, and has spent seventeen
field seasons working with marine mammals in the Arctic
or Antarctic, as well as many years lecturing on Antarctic tourist ships. At
the undergraduate and graduate level, she has taught and supervised research in
comparative anatomy and biological anthropology. She has also served as an
environmental consultant, including working on the Greenpeace Climate Change
Database. Susanna’s career in Cambridge
– including being a Fellow and a Tutor at one of the Colleges – exposed her not
only to the remarkable intellectual atmosphere of the University but to the
political maneuvering, infighting, and eccentricity that abounds in such
environments. These have given her a much deeper understanding of Cambridge through the
ages. Her other research passion has long been medieval history and
architecture, and she has written books on the castles of Britain and
cathedrals of the world, as well as producing papers about the archaeology and
history of Michaelhouse, the College that is the setting for her Matthew
Bartholomew series. Aside from her two popular series of historical mysteries,
featuring Matthew Bartholomew and Thomas Chaloner, she is also a member of the
Medieval Murderers, a group of writers who give talks and presentations at
literary festivals, as well as writing books together. She now lives in a
hamlet in southwest Wales
with her husband Beau Riffenburgh, who is also a writer, and the two have
published another series of medieval mysteries under the pseudonym Simon
Beaufort.
Carol Westron is a successful short story writer and a Creative
Writing teacher. She is the moderator
for the cosy/historical crime panel, The Deadly Dames. Her crime novels are set both in contemporary
and Victorian times. The Terminal
Velocity of Cats is the first in her Scene of Crimes novels, published July
2013.
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