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A Bone of Contention

The Third Matthew Bartholomew Chronicle

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A Bone of Contention

By: Susanna Gregory
Narrated by: David Thorpe
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Cambridge in 1352 is rife with terrible clashes between the fledgling university and the townspeople. Matthew Bartholomew, physician and teacher at Michaelhouse College, is trying to keep the peace when a student is murdered and the town plunges into chaos. At the same time, a skeleton is discovered that is rumoured to belong to a local martyr, and Bartholomew has his hands full investigating both deaths while the rioting intensifies....

©1997 Susanna Gregory (P)2017 Hachette Audio Crime Fiction Historical Mystery Suspense Thriller & Suspense Fiction Crime Student
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Loved it! historical fact intertwined with a convoluted story line brought to a tidy end.

A most interesting story mingled with fact.

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Another great listen well read and delivered! Good continuation of the series and will be heading for next book….

Another great listen

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ery well written, good characters, clever plot development. cannot wait to hear the next one

Loved it

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Great whodunnit in an terrifying era of history world rebuilding itself
Matt’s on the case

A scary time where life was cheap

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This is my third Matthew Bartholomew novel listen. I am committed to continue the journey. It is so easy to slip into the world of these books. The first thing to say is that this is an easy enough listen, and the only cautions for prospective readers is that there is a wealth of characters and that some simple understanding of the University set-up at the time (colleges and hostels) would be useful. It is also worth the time to find a copy of the map included with the printed copy of the book online and print it so that you can orientate yourself. It would helpful if this was available from Audible. I am still getting used to the death counts in the first three novels and it will be interesting to see if this continues. I enjoy the depiction of the times in these novels and the core of characters. Of particular interest to me in this listen was the role of holy relics at the time and the divergent views of them. The references to food and drink also entertained me – see what you think of the stewed fish giblets. I also enjoyed the role of The King’s Ditch, only a tiny portion of which remains today and that within the walls of one of Cambridge’s older colleges. Matthew Bartholomew still presents as human and fallible and his companion (Michael) still provides frequent relief (much of it light) and challenge. The Epilogue to this book I found something wanting. That said it provided a thinking point as to how the next book in the series would present matters. A balding male, as I am, I was perhaps over-sensitive to the number of times that the author has Mathew Bartholomew running his hands/fingers through his hair. And the author’s preference for glower/glowered/glowering irritated again. The plot is busy and there are many twists (as you would expect) to keep the reader occupied and thinking – which a good. My last active listening session of this book was over six hours and this ought to give some idea as to the book’s appeal. The performance of the book I enjoyed though at odd times the narrative does not match the characterisation of a voice. The diction is clear and precise, which I always value.

Continuing Appeal

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