Review of A Deadly Brew, an historical mystery set in Medieval Cambridge by Susanna Gregory
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Synopsis
Doctor Matthew Bartholomew is trying to get on with teaching his students at the University of Cambridge while treating his patients in the town who have the winter fever. Things go wrong, however, when a student and a teacher both die after drinking poisoned wine. This is shortly followed by the murder of a servant on university property.
Bartholomew tries to keep out of the investigation, leaving it to his friend, Brother Michael. Then their lives are threatened and Bartholomew is forced to help. Before long he’s dealing with an unusual corpse, a nun hiding in the home of a prostitute, and students failing disputations due to the winter fever.
Review
This mystery has a lot of different layers. There’s the sale of the wine and the accidental poisonings. Then there’s the mystery of who brought the poisoned wine into Cambridge and for what reason. Also, there’s all the smuggling going on and the attacks on various characters. It’s all intertwined and was difficult to keep track of.
I had to read this book through twice in order to really follow the story. The second time, I was much better able to keep track of who the minor characters were and who exactly did what. It was very complex, and I liked that, but it made it hard to remember what had already happened and understand what is going on.
I didn’t like how the main characters (Bartholomew and Michael) turn out to have very little to do with finally solving the mystery. They work out what happened to the wine and uncover who killed Master Greene. However, they have no idea about the mastermind who first brought the poison into Cambridge until he reveals himself while trying to kill Bartholomew.
“And I suppose our little roles in all this count for nothing?” asked Michael scathingly.
“Precisely!” said Langelee, with a superior grin. “And you would not even be alive now, if it were not for me.” He beamed at them, oblivious of Michael’s indignation.
The author did a fantastic job at recreating the atmosphere of medieval Cambridge. It was like I could feel the cold and I really sympathised with the residents of Michaelhouse not having enough fires and candles during the long winter nights. While I was reading, the world really did feel saturated.
Conclusion
Have you read A Deadly Brew? What did you think? Do you agree with what I’ve said about it? What about other books by Susanna Gregory? Let me know in the comments.
If you haven’t, it can be bought at Book Depository (they have free worldwide shipping!).
It sounds like a good read! Did you find that having visited some of the places in Cambridge yourself helped the book come alive for you?
A bit. There is a “Michaelhouse Centre” attached to Great St Mary’s that has connections to the book series; I will definitely visit it next time I’m in the area.