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.
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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