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Review: A Plague on Both Your Houses by Susanna Gregory

Review of A Plague on Both Your Houses by Susanna Gregory, the first chronicle of Matthew Bartholomew set in 14th century Cambridge.

A Plague on Both Your Houses by Susanna Gregory cover
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Synopsis

After the body of Sir John Babington, Master of Michaelhouse, is found spinning on Cambridge’s millwheel, he is thought to have committed suicide. Then several more Michaelhouse residents die and Dr Matthew Bartholomew becomes suspicious. However, the Bishop is called in to review the deaths and gives orders to cover-up any scandal.

At the same time, rumours circulate that Oxford University is trying to close the competing university at Cambridge by creating problems between town and gown. Then, the plague arrives in Cambridge and all Bartholomew’s time is consumed with treating the dwindling populace.

During the ensuing mess, a woman goes missing and men make surprising confessions. This leads Bartholomew to search out information that puts his life in danger from the men responsible for the earlier deaths.

Review

A Plague on Both Your Houses is a fantastic black-death-era mystery. Sure, the Death may have distracted me (and the characters) from the mystery for a bit, but it became an important part of the story. The book was sprinkled with historical details and interesting information, particularly about the plague.

The story is extremely convoluted and intricate. There are twists and turns in the (very complicated and eventful) mystery with a plot within a plot and dangerous encounters. Even Bartholomew gets confused about what’s going on. Then there’s a disappearance that might be related to the original plots/murders but turns out to be unrelated. I found the “let’s summarise what we know” bits completely necessary.

Very few of the characters are fleshed out enough that I could care about them. Add to that the vast number of minor characters and a character list would have been helpful. There were some characters that appeared early on and then again towards the end, by which time I had forgotten who they were. However, I was gripped by trying to work out which characters were good, and which were bad.

I liked Bartholomew. He’s intelligent, a bit naïve, and genuinely shocked at other people’s deviousness. I loved reading about him trying to deal with the plague and how selfless he was. Bartholomew’s student, Gray, provided a nice contrast to emphasise these qualities.

Gray followed him from house to house carrying the heavy bag that contained Bartholomew’s instruments and medicines. Bartholomew could feel the student’s disapproval as he entered the single-roomed shacks that were home to families of a dozen. The only patient of which Gray did not disapprove was the wife of a merchant. She was one of the few cases with which Bartholomew had had success, and was lying in a bed draped with costly cloths, tired, but still living. The grateful merchant pressed some gold coins into Bartholomew’s hand. Bartholomew wondered whether they would be sufficient to bribe people to drive the carts that collected the dead.

Conclusion

Have you read A Plague on Both Your Houses? What did you think? Do you agree with what I’ve said about it? Let me know in the comments.

If you haven’t, you can buy it at Book Depository (they have free international shipping!) or Waterstones (free delivery on UK orders over £25, will ship internationally).

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Review: A Deadly Brew by Susanna Gregory

Review of A Deadly Brew, an historical mystery set in Medieval Cambridge by Susanna Gregory

A Deadly Brew by Susanna Gregory cover

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link. Please see our full disclosure for further information.

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!).

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Hello Friends and Family: Christmas and Cambridge

After leaving my disastrous stay at Palmer’s Lodge, I met my sister and her husband at Borough Market for lunch – I had a Chicken Masamann from the Thai food cart. We sat at a table at the top of a set of wooden bleacher-like things with a great view of everyone else eating their lunch.

The view from our table at Borough Market

On Christmas Eve we met my other sister and her wife in central London for panto. We saw Goldilocks and the Three Bears at the London Palladium. It was awesome, funny, and magnificent (I later read a newspaper review that gave the show only three out of five stars because there was so little plot – it didn’t need plot). This was followed by a meal together at a Mexican restaurant.

Christmas day was lovely and quiet. We watched a lot of T.V., drank a lot of tea, and ate a lot of chocolate. There was a particularly bizarre T.V. show called Martins Close; it was about a young man accused of murdering a woman whose ghost had since been seen several times. We also put together a kitset of a wooden marble run – so much fun!

On the Saturday I went to Cambridge by myself. First, I popped by the visitor information centre and picked up some brochures and a map. I spent the rest of the day at the Fitzwilliam Museum. It seems to be artier than I had thought it would be, but I enjoyed the ancient history bits.

The Fitzwilliam’s building is spectacular in its own right

Monday was a London day. We (my sister, her husband, and myself) had tickets to Witness for the Prosecution at London County Hall. We started with an hour in the treasures room at the British Library (I liked the illuminated manuscripts).

Getting off the tube at London Bridge, we bought hot chocolates at Rabot in Borough Market and drank them as we walked along the Thames to the winter market outside the Southbank Centre, where we had lunch. I had a Korean pork rice bowl that was quite a bit spicier than I had anticipated.

My delicious Korean rice bowl

On New Years Eve, I accompanied my sister and her husband to Cambridge. They were going to see the New Year in at one of the clocks there and had booked a fancy hotel room for the night. We had lunch at The Old Bicycle Shop (good food, great atmosphere). I was planning on seeing more of Cambridge afterwards (perhaps Great St Marys), but I didn’t feel like it.

I saw the New Year in hanging out the attic window. There were at least six fireworks displays going on that I could see, and several more that I couldn’t (judging from the sounds and wafts of smoke coming from the other direction). I had tried to watch the fireworks at Big Ben on the T.V. but the cameras weren’t great at seeing through the smoke created by the fireworks.

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What I Want to Do UK 2019

Planning to visit the UK later this year, I’ve been researching what there is to see and do. The following is what I want to do while I’m overseas, categorised by city. I might not get to do all of it, but this list provided some small direction to my trip. It also helps with looking forward to the trip (and I am so getting excited for it!!!).

London

Big Ben seen through the London Eye

London is a brilliant city full of history and culture. I would love to spend several days just walking around, looking at things, discovering hidden gems that might not be in travel guides and tourist brochures. However, I wouldn’t just wander around aimlessly; I have a book (bought 2nd-hand) called “Walking Village London” which details a selection of walks around different areas of London that I would use as a rough guide.

I absolutely must go to The British Museum and The Museum of London. We did go to The British Museum in 2015 but couldn’t spend as much time there as I would have liked (I could spend a week in there, easily). Both museums are free to visit and I intend to spend a significant amount of time at them.

I would love to spend a day at The Tower of London and another at Westminster. However, both places cost quite a bit for a proper visit (£22.50 entrance to The Tower), so I might have to content myself with walking around outside.

As a day trip from London, I would like to visit St. Albans. Apparently, St. Albans used to be one of Roman Britain’s largest cities. It is now home to St. Albans Cathedral and Verulamium Museum, both of which I would like to visit. I also wouldn’t mind a trip out to Windsor Castle, but that would cost a bit much.

Cambridge

One of the sisters I’m hoping to stay with lives a short train ride from Cambridge. I’ve been looking at what there is to do, both in and around Cambridge as well as at various stops along the train line that runs past her place. If I can’t stay with her, I will still spend a week or two in Cambridge (by the look of things, I could easily find plenty of enjoyable things to do there).

Cambridge has a lot of free churches, museums, and university colleges that sound interesting and that I would like to look around. Of these, I particularly want to visit Little St. Mary’s Church, Magdalene College, Fitzwilliam Museum, and the Polar Museum. King’s College Chapel and Round Church aren’t free, but also sound like they would be worth a visit.

When looking at the train line, I looked at King’s Lynn, a coastal town at the end of the line with a selection of interesting looking sites. While King’s Lynn doesn’t have a hostel for staying overnight, I would like to visit, just as a day trip. I have always wanted to see Ely Cathedral and when I looked, I found that Ely had other sites that I would like to visit on a day trip. Another day trip that I might take is to Bury St. Edmunds. There’s a church, cathedral, hall, and gardens that I would like a look around.

Closer to my sister’s house are the towns of Hertford, Hitchin, and Stevenage. Hertford (the county town of Hertfordshire) has a castle and a museum that I would like to visit, and a heritage trail that I might follow if the weather’s not too bad. Hitchin is home to the North Hertfordshire Museum, along with cobbled streets and a selection of historic buildings. Stevenage has Knebworth House and Park, and the New and Old town centres. Other miscellaneous sites an easy train ride away include Hatfield House and the International Garden Cities Exhibition.

Paris

Breakfast at a Paris cafe – 2015

I would love to duck down to Paris for a week. However, such a trip would add about $1000NZ to my budget, even with my cheepskate attitude to money (I’m looking into Lille instead: the Eurostar also goes direct from London to Lille, and transport and accommodation costs might be cheaper). If I do make it to Paris, there are several things that I would like to do or buy.

One thing I would like to do is to climb up the Eifel Tower during the day; when my family was in Paris in 2015, we went up the Eifel Tower at night and the city lights that we could see were pretty but indeterminate and it was impossible to get a decent photo. (the Eifel Tower isn’t going anywhere; if I don’t get to Paris this trip, I can always do it later)

Aside from that I really just want to wander around, absorbing the ambiance, looking at things. I want to practice speaking French, eat French food, and experience French culture (to a degree). I can do that just as well in Lille as I can in Paris.

If I can find a decent bookstore, there are some books that I would like to buy. I have been trying to read books in French in order to improve my skills in the language. So far, I have stuck to cheap books, but there are a couple of stories that I have read (and loved and reread again and again) in English that I would like to try in French, just because I already know the story really well. However, getting a French copy in New Zealand costs too much.

York

York, in the north of England, has a rich and fascinating history: from its foundation by the Romans, through tussles between invading Vikings and the local Anglo-Saxons, to destruction and rebuilding by the Normans. When thinking about possible places for a trip within a trip, York really stood out.

York Minster is one of my York must-sees; it’s the largest cathedral in Northern Europe and the centre of Christianity in Northern England. Built on the site of a 7th century wooden chapel, the current building is a spectacular Gothic style act of worship. I particularly want to see the crypt and the Rose Window. Another church that I might visit is the Church of the Holy Trinity (it’s free).

I also really must explore the Museum Gardens. They contain several old buildings and ruins that I want to look at, including the Multangular Tower (first built by the Romans), St Mary’s Abbey (a Benedictine Monastery), and St Leonard’s Hospital (also a church and a school). The Yorkshire Museum is found at the edge of the Gardens and contains exhibits on Eboracum (Roman York) and other archaeology. I also want to look at York Castle Museum (not in the Museum Gardens) and their exhibits on every-day life in York over the centuries.

A walk around the York City Walls is another thing I really must do. It still has several Bars (gates) that are well preserved (or restored) and appear to be worth the visit. A couple of the Bars (Monk and Micklegate) house small exhibitions dedicated to Richard III (England’s final Yorkist king) and Henry VII (England’s first Tudor king), both of whom I find interesting.