To Kill or Cure: The Thirteenth Chronicle of Matthew Bartholomew [Hardcover]

Susanna Gregory (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 7, 2007

The latest episode in the popular series of mediaevel mysteries, featuring the physician-cum-sleuth, Matthew Bartholomew.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A murderous town-and-gown conflict propels the action of Gregory's engrossing 13th mystery set in 14th-century Cambridge and featuring physician Matthew Bartholomew (after 2006's The Tarnished Chalice). The various university colleges have been keeping students' rents low so they can afford their academic fees, but avaricious landlords now want to triple the rents, a threat to the colleges' existence. Meanwhile, Bartholomew and his three fellow Cambridge physicians find their income drained off by the chicanery of phony medicusRichard Arderne, out to make a killing healing the sick and raising the dead by waving a supposedly magic feather. Three grisly murders add to Bartholomew's woes. Though the narrative often bogs down in philosophical disputations, Gregory excels at recreating the faces, menus, sounds and putrid smells of a medieval English town just recovering from the Black Death. Strong-stomached readers will relish this trip into England's grim and grimy past. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Strong-stomached readers will relish this trip into England's grim and grimy past."  —Publishers Weekly

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group; First Edition edition (June 7, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316733393
• ISBN-13: 978-0316733397
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,633,642 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Medieval!, July 9, 2008

By 

S. Schwartz "romonko" (alberta canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: To Kill or Cure (Matthew Bartholomew Chronicles) (Hardcover)

I know that the general consensus is that there is no one out there that is able to take the crown of the best Medeival mystery author since the death of the estimable Ms. Ellis Peters. I have to agree that she left big shoes to fill, but my opinion is that Susanna Gregory has slipped into those shoes while no one was paying attention. Her books are much longer than Ms. Peters' and there is a lot more murder and mayhem in them, but they are wonderful. I am a long term lover of her Matthew Bartholomew series, and this latest in this collection is another winner. This is the thirteenth book in this series, and I highly recommend that anyone thinking of reading these books should start at the beginning and work their way through. This is the only way to get the full benefit of Ms. Gregory's wonderful writing. She uses true historical figures and happenings, and builds her stories around these. In this book, set in Cambridge in the spring of 1357, someone appears to be going around killing academics, and Brother Michael and Matthew are trying to unravel the mysteries. At the same time the city of Cambridge is under great unrest and the division between "Town and Gown" is very apparent. The situation in the streets is explosive. These books are authentic, and the characters are real. It feels like you're right there in the middle of the action as you read.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An ending a bit too hasty, January 2, 2009

By 

xi'an - See all my reviews

This review is from: To Kill or Cure (Matthew Bartholomew Chronicles) (Paperback)

'tis always pleasant to come back to 14th century Cambridge to imagine the streets and colleges at that time. The main characters have not changed much since the previous volume, even if Brother Michael is a bit shallower than usual. The most interesting core of the book is academic competition for a position as a Fellow, a most contemporary problem!, as well as the resentment from "town" created by the special status of "gown", in particular about rents... However, I find the political plot a bit too dull and unrealistic, while the criminal part is clearly very unrealistic and the (usual) recovery of the main characters and the unmasking of the villeins rather poor. This is certainly not the best in the series!

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great story lines, January 4, 2009

By 

S. jerrems (las vegas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: To Kill or Cure (Matthew Bartholomew Chronicles) (Paperback)

I have read some of her other works and the first I tried her mysteries. Very good and accurate depictions of life in a college town at that period. Worth it for diversionary fun.