Mystery in the Minster

The Seventeenth Chronicle of Matthew Bartholomew

By: Susanna Gregory

Narrated by: David Thorpe

In 1358 the fledging college of Michaelhouse in Cambridge is in need of extra funds. A legacy from the Archbishop of York of a parish close to that city promises a welcome source of income. However, there has been another claim to its ownership, and it seems the only way to settle the dispute is for a deputation from Michaelhouse to travel north.

Matthew Bartholomew is among the small party which arrives in the bustling city, where the increasing wealth of the merchants is unsettling the established order and where a French invasion is an ever-present threat to its port. But soon he and his colleagues learn that many of the Archbishop's executors have died in unexplained circumstances and that the codicil naming Michaelhouse as a beneficiary cannot be found....

©2011 Susanna Gregory (P)2017 Little Brown Book Group

Good

Well the duo get into another tangle and the journey is very intriguing. Narrative is always top notch

seemed endless

I almost never give up on a book, but this was just too annoying to finish. The almost constant unbrotherly nagging and bitching of the monks was unbearable. The female characters, especially Prioress Alice, are not convincing. I just didn't care abput any of them. It's such a shame, since this is a historical period rich with political and philosophical ideas and events.