A Plague on Both Your Houses (Matthew Bartholomew Chronicles)

by Susanna Gregory

Book Overview

In the tradition of Ellis Peters, A Plague on Both Your Houses introduces the physician Matthew Bartholomew, whose unorthodox but effective treatment of his patients frequently draws accusations of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0751516953
• Release Date: June 2003
• Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
• Length: 406 Pages
• Weight: 0.58 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.8" x 1.3" x 4.3"

Customer Reviews

Good

Not great. Not the greatest mystery plot. And the characters weren't compelling. The details about the plague were fascinating, and the author effectively portrayed its impact on life. I was a bit disappointed when comparing this first in the series to Candace Robb or of course Ellis Peters. But it was good and I will read the next.

Great Start to a Great Series

Susanna Gregory is the pseudonym of a Cambridge academic who was previously a coroner's officer. Her series of mediaeval mysteries have gained a formidable following. This book is the first in the series and introduces the physician Matthew Bartholomew to the reader. There are now a number of books in the series and they are always eagerly awaited by the author's fans. Besides practising medicine Matthew is also a teacher at a Cambridge University and his sometimes unorthodox treatment of his patients draws accusations of heresy from his more traditional, but less skilled colleagues. The year is 1348 and the inhabitants of Cambridge live under the shadow of a terrible pestilence that has swept through northern Europe, crossed the channel and moved voraciously through southern England. As if Matthew had not enough to contend with he is distracted by the death of the Master of the university, an inexplicable death and one that the authorities do not seem to want solving. When three more scholars died in unexplained circumstances Bartholomew decides enough is enough and begins his own enquiry into the death, but his pursuit of the truth leads him into a complex tangle of lies and deceit that causes him to question the innocence or otherwise of close friends and even his family. On top of all this the Black Death has finally arrived in Cambridge . . .

Introducing a New Medieval Sleuth!

PLAGUE ON BOTH YOUR HOUSES introduces us to Matthew Bartholomew, a 14th Century physician working at the University of Cambridge. Bartholomew, whose medical views are ridiculed by other less progressive doctors, investigates the suspicious death of a high college official, the first in a series of deaths that he soon realizes is connected with a shadowy power struggle between the Oxford and Cambridge colleges. As the body count rises, these deaths become overshadowed by the onslaught of the Black Death, which has been sweeping through Europe and now England. On the book's plus side, Gregory certainly has an eye for detail; her depictions of Cambridge circa-1348 transport you back to that time. Likewise the characters were fairly well-rounded and I enjoyed Bartholomew. The book, however, is a long stretch of road, being 402 pages long. I felt some of Bartholomew's endless speculations after each new murder were repetitious. How many times can you read "Could so-and-so be...?" "But then how did...?" "And what is so-and-so's role in this?" before enough is enough. Frankly I thought the Black Death was a much more interesting subject than the intercollegiate rivalry plot element. Gregory's descriptions of the disease's utter devastation made for gripping reading. I would have much preferred she dumped the Oxford-Cambridge intrigue and focused the story on the incredible impact the Black Death has on a town like Cambridge and the efforts of a 14th Century physician to save the townspeople. In short, the book has shortcomings but also enough merit that readers should enjoy the story and look forward to the next installment of Bartholomew's adventures.

Superb

I have now read all of Susanna Gregory's medieval whodunnits (A masterly murder being the latest). They are excellent. I am sure there are many Ellis Peter's fans who will decry them as a poor imitation but they are simply the best out on the market. Admittedly it has taken Ms Gregory 4 novels to really get going and you can almost see the development in the writing skills as you read each one. What makes them good is that the whodunnit is secondary to the character development and microcosm of 14th century Cambridge. By the sixth novel in the series each character is well rounded (certainly in Michael's case!) and consistent with a huge variance of supporting actors. Whilst each murder is a separate mystery in itself the ramifications of each one reaches into the later books and indeed provides clues and reasoning behind the later actions of the Cambridge scholars and townspeople.Read them...

Good Mystery

For those of us mourning the passing of Ellis Peters and the end of the Brother Cadfael mystery series, it is nice to know that others are writing in the genre. Ms. Gregory's writing isn't quite of the calibre of Ms. Peters, but certainly worth the effort. This is the first in the series of her mysteries set in the Dark Ages in England. The venue is Cambridge and her hero (Brother Matthew) is a monk as well as teacher and physician in the college. There are certainly a lot more killings than in Ms. Peters books, but the story is good and the characters real. I will be reading the rest of the series.