A Poisonous Plot

The Twenty First Chronicle of Matthew Bartholomew

By: Susanna Gregory

Narrated by: David Thorpe

In 1358, over a century after its foundation in Cambridge, the college of Michael House is facing a serious shortfall of funds and competition from upstarts rivals such as Zachary Hostel. Their problems are made no easier by the hostility of the town's inhabitants, who favour the university moving away to the Fens.

This simmering tension threatens to break into violence when a well-known tradesman is found dead in one of the colleges. Matthew Bartholomew knows he was poisoned but cannot identify the actual substance, never mind the killer. He also worries that other illnesses and deaths may have been caused by the effluent from his sister's dye works.

Torn between loyalties to his kin and to his college, he fears the truth may destroy both his personal and professional lives, but he knows he must use his skills as a physician to discover the truth before many more lose their lives entirely.

©2015 Susanna Gregory (P)2015 Isis Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"Susanna Gregory writes with fluency and energy, avoids archaic vocabulary, despite her 14th-century setting and, having had a career as an academic, bases the stories in this enjoyable series on careful research." ( Literary Review)

Glad the right voices are back!

Love the voices being back to their “normal” as I simply adore David Thorpe’s take on them, especially Brother Michael and Master Langelee and Clippersby as well as the townsfolk. He just brings Susanna Gregory’s characters to life and Brother Michael is my favourite character thanks to him (and her, of course!). I wish he could do all the books in the series.

Never Stopped Laughing - My Favorite Series

This is another great book in the Matthew Bartholomew series about a Doctor in 17th Century Cambridge. Matthew, along with the Senior Proctor, Brother Michael must find oust what is causing the "debilitas" killing and sickening so many residents of Cambridge. In addition he must prevent his sister, Edith, from being attacked by townspeople over her factory for making dyes which are causing a ghastly smell, and also why town and gown are at each other's throat and on the verge of massive riot.

The duo of Mat and Brother Michael find themselves in one scrape after another. In addition the University, Michaelhouse, where they teach is on the verge of bankruptcy and needs to be rescued by finding a rich benefactor. Who is the sinister person causing all the trouble in the town by spreading lies and rumors? This is the main mystery to be solved, but there are many side mysteries along the way.

There are so many hilarious characters in the book that each chapter is a real treat. I have been reading the series since Book I and although this is 21 in the series, you can still enjoy it without having read the previous books. I am sorry that more of the series is not on audio, as I enjoy the series so much. I hate it when I read the end and find I enjoy listening to the book over again.

David Thorpe does an excellent job in reading. He gives all the characters unique voice which really bring out the personality of each character.

I love Susanna Gregory 's characters the are so vivid and funny

The narrator does not give Michael's voice the strength it needs which is disappointing. For that reason I was unhappy with the performance.

Characterizations back to this best!

David Thorpe’s characterizations are back to his earlier work. Don’t know what went wrong with previous chronicle, but it’s all good again now!

Narration is off?

Again, a compelling story line that kept me guessing to the end. I greatly enjoyed traveling along with Brother Michael and Doctor Bartholomew on another adventure.

I have been going through the series via Audible. I was excited to have David Thorpe back for narration, but his voicing for characters has changed from previous books. This was most notable in characters Cynric and Clippersby. I didn't appreciate the change as I had also enjoyed the thick Welsh brogue of Cynric and the playful intonation of our animal loving friend Clippersby. Both were dramatacized into deep masculine tones in this book, that frankly sounded alike. Brother Michael was also presented with a deeper voice, and just not quite the same.