A Bone of Contention: The Second Chronicle of Matthew Bartholomew - Hardcover

Gregory, Susanna

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 031216792X ISBN 13: 9780312167929

Publisher: Minotaur Books, 1997

Synopsis

In 1352, the terrible legacy of the Black Death still looms over the town of Cambridge, where hysteria and superstition are prevalent. Meanwhile, Matthew Bartholomew, teacher and public physician, is thrown into the heat of a baffling mystery as he's called to the King's Ditch to examine the corpse of a young student. His task is complicated by the discovery of a skeletal hand in the ditch wearing a ring identical to that of the student.

The town is plunged into chaos as a respected university professor falls under suspicion and Bartholomew's investigation has the academic community bristling. Piece by piece the good doctor begins to exhume a chilling conspiracy that lay hidden for three decades-a deadly scheme that could tear the town asunder.

In the tradition of Ellis Peters, A Bone of Contention continues the fascinating chronicles of Susanna Gregory's charismatic medieval sleuth.

About this title

About the Author

Susanna Gregory is a pseudonym. Before she earned her Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge and became a research Fellow at one of the colleges, she was a police officer in Yorkshire. She has written a number of nonfiction books, including ones on castles, cathedrals, historic houses, and world travel. She and her husband live in a village near Cambridge.

Reviews

A second visit to the 14th century and Cambridge, England, once again focuses on physician-teacher Matthew Bartholomew and his friend Brother Michael, a Senior Proctor, both living at Michaelhouse, one of several competitive, quarrelsome college residences (An Unholy Alliance, 1996). This time out, though, there's something more menacing than intraschool rivalry. Some behind-the-scenes force is pitting townspeople against students- -inciting riots, killing in the streets, and more. Then Scots student James Menzie of David's Hostel is found dead, a precious ring missing from his finger. The ring's mate belongs to Dominica, daughter of Principal Lydgate of Godwinsson Hostel. Dominica is also soon to disappear, and a twin to the missing ring will be found on a hand dragged from the town's sewer system--a ditch--by Master Thorpe of Valence Marie house, and will be declared by him to be a sacred relic. All of this is but a tiny sample of the many violent confrontations; characters venal and benign; and plots and subplots that abound here in an undisciplined, unbelievable saga of vengeance sought against a whole town for a decades-old grievance. Patient students of medieval England may stay the course for the thoroughly researched background. Most other readers will be long gone. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

A new college in 14th-century Cambridge hopes to improve its fortunes by displaying saintly relics recently discovered in the King's Ditch surrounding the town?even if it must manufacture its own. Series protagonists Brother Michael and physician Matthew Bartholomew of Michaelhouse College (An Unholy Alliance, LJ 12/96), who dispute medicine and argue murder theories, spot the scam but must tread carefully for fear of igniting various rival antagonisms in the town. This is a finely detailed cross section of life in medieval England, still recovering from the plague of 1348. Fans of historical mysteries will clamor for more.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 031216792X
• ISBN 13: 9780312167929
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 288