Susanna Gregory – författare

''Fans will be pleased to hear that Susanna Gregory has yet again hit on a winning formula of taking a likeable main character, involving him in a gripping plot and setting them within a commendably realistic setting. It is another bravura performance'' - Historical Novels Review--------------------------The seventh adventure in the Thomas Chaloner series.Thomas Chaloner is relieved to be summoned back to London. His master, the Earl of Clarendon, has sent him to Tangier to investigate a case of corruption. Chaloner will be glad to be home, to be reunited with his new wife, but the trivial reason for his recall exasperates him - the theft of material from the construction site of Clarendon''s embarrassingly sumptuous new house just north of Piccadilly.Within hours of his return, Chaloner considers these thefts even more paltry as he is thrust into extra investigations involving threats of assassination, a stolen corpse and a scheme to frame the Queen for treason. Yet there are connections from them all which thread through the unfinished Clarendon House...''Pungent with historical detail'' (Irish Times)''A richly imagined world of colourful medieval society and irresistible monkish sleuthing'' (Good Book Guide) ''Corpses a-plenty, exciting action sequences and a satisfying ending'' (Mystery People)

Superspy of Restoration London, Thomas Chaloner foils an uprising in his eighth outing-------------------------------------Five years after Charles II''s triumphant return to London there is growing mistrust of his extravagant court and of corruption among his officials - and when a cart laden with gunpowder explodes outside the General Letter Office, it is immediately clear that such an act is more than an expression of outrage at the inefficiency of the postal service. As intelligencer to the Lord Chamberlain, Thomas Chaloner cannot understand why a man of known incompetence is put in charge of investigating the attack while he is diverted to make enquiries about the poisoning of birds in the King''s aviary in St James''s Park. Then human rather than avian victims are poisoned, and Chaloner knows he has to ignore his master''s instructions and use his own considerable wits to defeat an enemy whose deadly tentacles reach into the very heart of the government: an enemy who has the power and expertise to destroy anyone who stands in the way ...

Once again, Gregory brings to bear her extraordinary ability to paint a period picture of London in all its grimness and grittiness. Hats off to the lady! - Daily Mail---------------------------The ninth adventure for Chaloner sees the Restoration London spy foil a conspiracyIn 1665 England is facing war with the Dutch and the capital is awash with rumours of conspiracy and sedition. As an experienced investigator, Thomas Chaloner knows that there are very few grains of truth in the shifting sands of the rumour-mill, but the murder of Paul Ferine, a Groom of the Robes, in a brothel favoured by the elite of the Palace of White Hall makes him scent a whiff of genuine treason.As well as investigating the murder, Chaloner is charged with tracking down the leaders of a fanatical sect known as the Fifth Monarchists. As he comes to know more about the group and their meetings on High Holborn, he discovers a puzzling number of connections - to both Ferine''s murder and those involved with the defence of the realm. Connections that he must disentangle before it is too late to save the country . . .

The fifteenth chronicle in the Matthew Bartholomew series.There is something very amiss in the finances of Michaelhouse. Despite a new influx of well-heeled students, there is an acute lack of funds for the upkeep of the buildings, even for decent provisions. It is only when the Brother in charge of the account books dies unexpectedly that some sort of explanation is revealed: he has been paying large amounts of money for goods the college itself has never received. Although shocked by this evidence of fraud, Matthew is more concerned with the disappearance from his herbarium of a quantity of pennyroyal, a preparation known to cause a woman to miscarry, and a pregnant visitor to his sister''s household has died from an overdose of pennyroyal. Had she meant to abort her child or had someone else wanted to ensure she was unable to provide an heir to her husband''s wealthy estates? When Matthew learns that it was her husband who had received Michaelhouse''s money for undelivered goods he begins to search for other connections and exposes a very treacherous vein of deceit.''A first-rate treat for mystery lovers'' (Historical Novels Review)''Susanna Gregory has an extraordinary ability to conjure up a strong sense of time and place'' (Choice)

For the twentieth anniversary of the Matthew Bartholomew series, Sphere reissued the books with beautiful new illustrated covers.

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Matthew Bartholomew, unorthodox but effective physician to Michaelhouse college in medieval Cambridge, is as worried as anyone about the pestilence that is ravaging Europe and seems to be approaching England. But he is distracted by the sudden and inexplicable death of the Master of Michaelhouse - a death the University authorities do not want investigated.

But Matt is determined to get to the truth, leading him into a tangle of lies and intrigue that cause him to question the innocence of his closest friends - and even his family - just as the Black Death finally arrives...

A Plague on Both Your Houses is the book that introduced Matthew Bartholomew to the world.

For the twentieth anniversary of the Matthew Bartholomew series, Sphere reissued the books with beautiful new illustrated covers.

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In 1350, the people of Cambridge are struggling to overcome the effects of the Black Death - and with a high mortality rate among priests and monks, the townsfolk are vulnerable to sinister cults that have sprung up.

At Michaelhouse, Matthew Bartholomew is training new physicians when the body of a friar is found in the massive chest that the University uses to store precious documents. While investigating, Bartholomew stumbles across a derelict church being used as a meeting place for the mysterious sect he believes is at the heart of a web of blackmail and deceit - with intention to overthrow the established religion.

For the twentieth anniversary of the Matthew Bartholomew series, Sphere reissued the books with beautiful new illustrated covers.-----------------------------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...

For the twentieth anniversary of the start of the Matthew Bartholomew series, Sphere is delighted to reissue all of the medieval monk''s cases with beautiful new series-style covers.------------------------------------The winter of 1353 has been appallingly wet, there is a fever outbreak amongst the poorer townspeople and the country is not yet fully recovered from the aftermath of the plague. The increasing reputation and wealth of the Cambridge colleges are causing dangerous tensions between the town, Church and University. Matthew Bartholomew is called to look into the deaths of three members of the University of who died from drinking poisoned wine, and soon he stumbles upon criminal activities that implicate his relatives, friends and colleagues - so he must solve the case before matters in the town get out of hand...

For the twentieth anniversary of the start of the Matthew Bartholomew series, Sphere is delighted to reissue all of the medieval monk''s cases with beautiful new series-style covers.------------------------------------The winter of 1353 has been appallingly wet, there is a fever outbreak amongst the poorer townspeople and the country is not yet fully recovered from the aftermath of the plague. The increasing reputation and wealth of the Cambridge colleges are causing dangerous tensions between the town, Church and University. Matthew Bartholomew is called to look into the deaths of three members of the University of who died from drinking poisoned wine, and soon he stumbles upon criminal activities that implicate his relatives, friends and colleagues - so he must solve the case before matters in the town get out of hand...Matthew Bartholomew, doctor of medicine and fellow of Michaelhouse, Cambridge, is travelling with a party from the college to accept the gift of the living of a parish in Grundisburgh, Suffolk. One of his companions, Unwin, an unworldly scholar, is to be installed as priest. When they arrive, they are immediately thrust into the machinations of local boundary disputes between three landowners, but all such squabbles seem mere trivia when Unwin is murdered in the very church which was to have been his home. While trying to investigate a possible motive for his killing, Bartholomew discovers that this is not the first unnatural death in the village - deaths which everyone has put down to the curse of the plague-dead village. He is of too practical a mind to believe the superstitions, but is he wily enough to work out the real motive behind the murders and who will gain from them?

The sixth chronicle in the Matthew Bartholomew series. Michaelhouse is in uproar: Kenyngham the saintly but ageing Master has announced his retirement and with unseemly haste Runham arranges his own ''election'' as his successor. Within days he has dismissed several members of staff, including the redoubtable laundress Agatha, and is making life so unpleasant for the scholars that even Matthew Bartholomew believes his future as physician and teacher at the college is untenable. But Matthew has many patients to divert his attention and Brother Michael, Proctor of the fledgling university, has some suspicious deaths to investigate, although they cannot help but notice that the new Master has commissioned a flurry of building work. Then Runham himself is murdered and, although mourned by none, Matthew and Michael know they have to solve the mystery before any more damage is done to their beloved Michaelhouse.''A first-rate treat for mystery lovers'' (Historical Novels Review)''Susanna Gregory has an extraordinary ability to conjure up a strong sense of time and place'' (Choice)

The seventh chronicle in the Matthew Bartholomew series. It is a time of division and denomination at the great University. The Carmelites and the Dominicans are at theological loggerheads, so much so that the more fanatical members are willing to swap rational judgement for a deadlier form of debate. And no sooner is Carmelite friar Faricius found stabbed than a Junior Proctor is found hanging from the walls of the Dominican Friary.What was Faricius doing out when he had not been given permission to wander? How are the nuns at the nearby convent of St Radegund involved? And who is brokering trouble between Cambridge and its rival University at Oxford? The longer their enquiries go on, the more Bartholomew and Michael realise that the murders are less to do with high-minded academic principles, and more to do with far baser instincts.''A first-rate treat for mystery lovers'' (Historical Novels Review)''Susanna Gregory has an extraordinary ability to conjure up a strong sense of time and place'' (Choice)

For the twentieth anniversary of the start of the Matthew Bartholomew series, Sphere is delighted to reissue all of the medieval monk''s cases with beautiful new series-style covers.------------------------------------The winter of 1353 has been appallingly wet, there is a fever outbreak amongst the poorer townspeople and the country is not yet fully recovered from the aftermath of the plague. The increasing reputation and wealth of the Cambridge colleges are causing dangerous tensions between the town, Church and University. Matthew Bartholomew is called to look into the deaths of three members of the University of who died from drinking poisoned wine, and soon he stumbles upon criminal activities that implicate his relatives, friends and colleagues - so he must solve the case before matters in the town get out of hand...It''s August, 1354, and physician-monk Matthew Bartholomew jumps at the chance to travel to Ely with his friend and colleague Brother Michael, as it will give him a unique opportunity to study in the richly stocked library of the Benedictine priory. Michael has been summoned to the city by his bishop, but it isn''t until they arrive that they discover the reason - the bishop has been accused of murder. The charge seems ludicrous, but Michael takes the investigation seriously and energetically sets about his task. At the same time Bartholomew comes across an underground movement of rebellion against the church and the tithes they demand from the laity, and the two men also learn that there has been a spate of burglaries which are being blamed on a band of travellers. Then a fellow of the priory is murdered almost under their noses. Can this death be connected to the others? Are all the killings linked to the burgeoning rebellion in the city?

For the twentieth anniversary of the start of the Matthew Bartholomew series, Sphere is delighted to reissue all of the medieval monk''s cases with beautiful new series-style covers.

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The winter of 1353 has been appallingly wet, there is a fever outbreak amongst the poorer townspeople and the country is not yet fully recovered from the aftermath of the plague. The increasing reputation and wealth of the Cambridge colleges are causing dangerous tensions between the town, Church and University.

Matthew Bartholomew is called to look into the deaths of three members of the University of who died from drinking poisoned wine, and soon he stumbles upon criminal activities that implicate his relatives, friends and colleagues - so he must solve the case before matters in the town get out of hand...

As Christmas of 1354 approaches, the town is gripped by the worst blizzards in living memory. As physician of Michaelhouse, Matthew Bartholomew struggles to help the poorer citizens cope with freezing temperatures while his colleagues prepare for the festivities.

The weather has trapped many travellers in the town, including Matthew''s erstwhile love, Philippa. She and her wealthy husband, Walter, are invited to Michaelhouse for the main feast, and Matthew hopes their stay will be brief - but a man found dead in a nearby church turns out to be Walter''s servant. And then events conspire to ensure that Walter will never leave Cambridge again...

For the twentieth anniversary of the start of the Matthew Bartholomew series, Sphere is delighted to reissue all of the medieval monk''s cases with beautiful new series-style covers.------------------------------------The winter of 1353 has been appallingly wet, there is a fever outbreak amongst the poorer townspeople and the country is not yet fully recovered from the aftermath of the plague. The increasing reputation and wealth of the Cambridge colleges are causing dangerous tensions between the town, Church and University. Matthew Bartholomew is called to look into the deaths of three members of the University of who died from drinking poisoned wine, and soon he stumbles upon criminal activities that implicate his relatives, friends and colleagues - so he must solve the case before matters in the town get out of hand...In February 1355, amid the worst snows in living memory, two well-born murderers return to Cambridge after receiving the King''s pardon - but they show no remorse, and are in fact ready to confront those who helped convict them. When Matthew Bartholomew is called to the local mill to examine two corpses, he and Brother Michael know who to question, but in the fledgling university city, nothing is ever as straightforward as it seems...

For the twentieth anniversary of the start of the Matthew Bartholomew series, Sphere is delighted to reissue all of the medieval monk''s cases with beautiful new series-style covers.------------------------------------The winter of 1353 has been appallingly wet, there is a fever outbreak amongst the poorer townspeople and the country is not yet fully recovered from the aftermath of the plague. The increasing reputation and wealth of the Cambridge colleges are causing dangerous tensions between the town, Church and University. Matthew Bartholomew is called to look into the deaths of three members of the University of who died from drinking poisoned wine, and soon he stumbles upon criminal activities that implicate his relatives, friends and colleagues - so he must solve the case before matters in the town get out of hand...On St Scholastica''s Day in February 1355, Oxford explodes in one of the most serious riots of its turbulent history. Fearing for their lives, the scholars flee the city, and some choose the University at Cambridge as their temporary refuge. However, they don''t remain safe for long. Within hours of their arrival, the first of their number dies, followed quickly by a second.When Bartholomew and Brother Michael begin to investigate the deaths, they uncover evidence that the Oxford riot was not a case of random violence, but part of a carefully orchestrated plot. With the Archbishop of Canterbury about to honour Cambridge with a Visitation, and a close colleague accused of a series of murders Bartholomew is certain he didn''t commit, the race is on to solve the riddles and bring a ruthless killer to justice.

For the twentieth anniversary of the start of the Matthew Bartholomew series, Sphere is delighted to reissue all of the medieval monk''s cases with beautiful new series-style covers.------------------------------------The winter of 1353 has been appallingly wet, there is a fever outbreak amongst the poorer townspeople and the country is not yet fully recovered from the aftermath of the plague. The increasing reputation and wealth of the Cambridge colleges are causing dangerous tensions between the town, Church and University. Matthew Bartholomew is called to look into the deaths of three members of the University of who died from drinking poisoned wine, and soon he stumbles upon criminal activities that implicate his relatives, friends and colleagues - so he must solve the case before matters in the town get out of hand...On a bitter winter evening in 1356, Matthew Bartholomew, Brother Michael and their book-bearer Cynric arrive in Lincoln. Michael is to accept an honour from the cathedral, and Bartholomew is looking for the woman he wants to marry. It is not long before they learn that the friary in which they are staying is not the safe haven they imagine - one guest has already been murdered. It soon emerges that the dead man was holding the Hugh Chalice, a Lincoln relic with a curiously bloody history. Bartholomew and Michael are soon drawn into a web of murder, lies and suspicion in a city where neither knows who can be trusted.

For the twentieth anniversary of the start of the Matthew Bartholomew series, Sphere is delighted to reissue all of the medieval monk''s cases with beautiful new series-style covers.------------------------------------The winter of 1353 has been appallingly wet, there is a fever outbreak amongst the poorer townspeople and the country is not yet fully recovered from the aftermath of the plague. The increasing reputation and wealth of the Cambridge colleges are causing dangerous tensions between the town, Church and University. Matthew Bartholomew is called to look into the deaths of three members of the University of who died from drinking poisoned wine, and soon he stumbles upon criminal activities that implicate his relatives, friends and colleagues - so he must solve the case before matters in the town get out of hand...In the year 1357, Cambridge University is in dire financial straits: the town''s landlords are demanding an extortionate rent rise for the students'' hostels and the plague years have left the colleges with scant resources. Tension between town and gown is at boiling point and soon explodes into violence and death. Into this maelstrom comes a charismatic physician whose healing methods owe more to magic than medicine - but his success threatens Matthew Bartholomew''s professional reputation, and his life ...

For the twentieth anniversary of the start of the Matthew Bartholomew series, Sphere is delighted to reissue all of the medieval monk''s cases with beautiful new series-style covers.------------------------------------The winter of 1353 has been appallingly wet, there is a fever outbreak amongst the poorer townspeople and the country is not yet fully recovered from the aftermath of the plague. The increasing reputation and wealth of the Cambridge colleges are causing dangerous tensions between the town, Church and University. Matthew Bartholomew is called to look into the deaths of three members of the University of who died from drinking poisoned wine, and soon he stumbles upon criminal activities that implicate his relatives, friends and colleagues - so he must solve the case before matters in the town get out of hand...Rumours of plague threaten Cambridge again, ten years after the Black Death had almost laid waste to the town. Neither the church nor its priests had defended people from the disease and now they turn elsewhere for protection, to pagan ritual and magical potions. It is a ripe atmosphere to be exploited by the mysterious ''Sorcerer'', an anonymous magician whose increasing influence seems certain to oust both civil and church leaders from power. One murder, another unexplained death, a font filled with blood, a desecreated grave - all bear the hallmarks of the Sorcerer''s hand, only the identity of the magician remains a mystery. One which Matthew Barthlomew must quickly get to the bottom of in order for he and his University colleagues to be free from danger...

The sixteenth chronicle in the Matthew Bartholomew series. When a wealthy benefactor is found dead in Michaelhouse, Brother Michael and Matthew Bartholomew must find the culprit before the College is accused of foul play. At the same time, Cambridge is plagued by a mystery thief, who is targeting rich pilgrims. Moreover, pranksters are at large in the University, staging a series of practical jokes that are growing increasingly dangerous, and that are dividing scholars into bitterly opposed factions. Bartholomew and Michael soon learn that their various mysteries are connected, and it becomes a race against time to catch the killer-thief before the University explodes into a violent conflict that could destroy it forever.''A first-rate treat for mystery lovers'' (Historical Novels Review)''Susanna Gregory has an extraordinary ability to conjure up a strong sense of time and place'' (Choice)

Susanna Gregory, author of the Matthew Bartholomew series of medieval mysteries, has created another compelling fictional detective set in Restoration London.--------------------------------------------The first adventure in the Thomas Chaloner series.The dour days of Cromwell are over. Charles II is well established at White Hall Palace, his mistress at hand in rooms over the Holbein bridge, the heads of some of the regicides on public display. London seethes with new energy, freed from the strictures of the Protectorate, but many of its inhabitants have lost their livelihoods. One is Thomas Chaloner, a reluctant spy for the feared Secretary of State, John Thurloe, and now returned from Holland in desperate need of employment. His erstwhile boss, knowing he has many enemies at court, recommends Thomas to Lord Clarendon, but in return demands that Thomas keep him informed of any plot against him. But what Thomas discovers is that Thurloe had sent another ex-employee to White Hall and he is dead, supposedly murdered by footpads near the Thames. Chaloner volunteers to investigate his killing: instead he is dispatched to the Tower to unearth the gold buried by the last Governor. He discovers not treasure, but evidence that greed and self-interest are uppermost in men''s minds whoever is in power, and that his life has no value to either side.''Pungent with historical detail'' (Irish Times)''A richly imagined world of colourful medieval society and irresistible monkish sleuthing'' (Good Book Guide) ''Corpses a-plenty, exciting action sequences and a satisfying ending'' (Mystery People)

Susanna Gregory, author of the Matthew Bartholomew series of medieval mysteries, has created another compelling fictional detective set in Restoration London.--------------------------------------------The second adventure in the Thomas Chaloner series.Rebellion is in the air of London in the spring of 1663. Thomas Chaloner, spy for the King''s intelligence service, has just returned from thwarting a planned revolt in Dublin, but soon realises that England''s capital is no haven of peace. He is ordered to investigate the shooting of a beggar during a royal procession. He soon learns the man is no vagrant, but someone with links to the powerful Company of Barber-Surgeons. His master, the Earl of Clarendon, is locked in a deadly feud with the Earl of Bristol, and an innocent man is about to be hanged in Newgate. Chaloner becomes embroiled in a desperate race against time to protect Clarendon, to discover the true identity of the beggar''s murderer, and to save a blameless man from the executioner''s noose.''Pungent with historical detail'' (Irish Times)''A richly imagined world of colourful medieval society and irresistible monkish sleuthing'' (Good Book Guide) ''Corpses a-plenty, exciting action sequences and a satisfying ending'' (Mystery People)

Susanna Gregory, author of the Matthew Bartholomew series of medieval mysteries, has created another compelling fictional detective set in Restoration London.--------------------------------------------The third adventure in the Thomas Chaloner series.Having just returned from a clandestine excursion to Spain and Portugal on behalf of the Queen, Thomas Chaloner finds London dank and grey under leaden skies. He finds many things changed, including the Government slapping a tax on printed newspapers. Handwritten news reports escape the duty, and the rivalry between the producers of the two conduits of news is the talk of the coffee houses with the battle to be first with any sort of intelligence escalating into violent rivalry. And it seems that a number of citizens who have eaten cucumbers have come to untimely deaths.It is such a death which Chaloner is despatched to investigate; that of a lawyer with links to ''the Butcher of Smithfield'', a shady trader surrounded by a fearsome gang of thugs who terrorise the streets well beyond the confines of Smithfield market. Chaloner doesn''t believe that either this death or the others are caused by a simple vegetable, but to prove his theory he has to untangle the devious means of how news is gathered and he has to put his personal safety aside as he tries to penetrate the rumour mill surrounding the Butcher of Smithfield and discover his real identity.''Pungent with historical detail'' (Irish Times)''A richly imagined world of colourful medieval society and irresistible monkish sleuthing'' (Good Book Guide) ''Corpses a-plenty, exciting action sequences and a satisfying ending'' (Mystery People)

Susanna Gregory, author of the Matthew Bartholomew series of medieval mysteries, has created another compelling fictional detective set in Restoration London.--------------------------------------------The fourth adventure in the Thomas Chaloner series. Christopher Vine, a Treasury clerk working in solitary piety in the Painted Chamber of the Palace of Westminster, is not alone. A killer waits in the draughty hall to ensure Vine will not live to see in the New Year. And Vine is not the only government official to die that season. The Lord Chancellor fears his enemies will skew any investigation to cause him maximum damage, so he decides to commission his own inquiries into the murders and, with his suspicions centred on Greene, another clerk, he instructs Thomas Chaloner to prove that Greene is the killer. Chaloner can prove otherwise, but unravelling the reasons behind his employer''s suspicions is as complex as discovering the motives for the killings. His search for the real murderer plunges him into a stinking seam of corruption that leads towards the Royal apartments and to people determined to make Christmas 1663 Chaloner''s last . . .''Pungent with historical detail'' (Irish Times)''A richly imagined world of colourful medieval society and irresistible monkish sleuthing'' (Good Book Guide) ''Corpses a-plenty, exciting action sequences and a satisfying ending'' (Mystery People)

1664. There is an electric air of foreboding on the streets of London. An atmosphere Thomas Chaloner fears will only take a small spark to ignite into another civil war. . .----------------------------------The fifth adventure in the Thomas Chaloner seriesThomas Chaloner has forged a living as spy to the Lord Chancellor, the Earl of Clarendon, since the early days of the Restoration. Now, in February 1664, he is aware of an undercurrent of restlessness on the streets of London. The coffee houses are thick with rumours. There is anger at the new laws governing church attendance and a deepening contempt for the loucheness of the court. And there is murder.The infamous church-smasher Dick Culmer is killed among the tottering, ramshackle buildings of London Bridge and Chaloner''s investigations into the death link Culmer to a group of puritan conspirators. Further west, in the opulence of Somerset House and in the Palace of White Hall, Chaloner gradually realises that the ring-leaders of a rebellion are planning an explosive climax to achieve their goals. Desperately racing against time, Chaloner is determined to thwart them - as determined as they are to prevent him revealing their true intentions ...