Synopses & Reviews
It is 1392, and Matthew Bartholomew, physician to Michaelhouse College, is called to examine some mysterious bones found in the King's Ditch. The next day he is called to the Ditch againa student has been found dead there. Meanwhile, there is unrest in the town, and the strange disappearance of Dominica, the former lover of the dead student. Are these events connected? Then a skeletal hand is found in the Ditch, hailed by townsfolk as the final remains of local martyr Simon d'Ambrey, and hence a holy relic. When Bartholomew finds that the hand is wearing a ring apparently identical to a pair that were worn by Dominica and her ex-lover, and now missing, he knows that his investigative skills are called for.
Synopsis
Skillfully combining murder, medicine, and mystery, these intricate and engaging mysteries follow the investigations of 14th-century Cambridge physician and forensic sleuth Matthew Bartholomew. The pseudonymous author Susanna Gregory, an anthropologist and Cambridge academic, is a former coroner's officer. 1352. The terrible legacy of the Black Death still haunts the town of Cambridge. Fears of future outbreaks drive people to seek protection in holy relics, while the University is the scene of violent clashes between students and townsfolk. With rumors spreading about the discovery of a skeleton reputed to belong to a local martyr, a young student's brutal murder plunges the town into chaos. Matthew Bartholomew, physician to Michaelhouse College, must ask himself if the two corpses--and the rioting--are linked to something deeper than local enmities. When he does, he finds himself embroiled in a nightmare of murder and revenge.