Matthew Bartholomew and his associates in 14th Century Cambridge are old friends by now, not just to each other but also to me. IT's the advantage of a long-running series - we know and appreciate the characters' foibles and Susannah Gregory can use them to plausibly send her detectives along the wrong path.
A Grave Concern opens with change. Michael house has a new, repellant fellow n the young and arrogant Kolvyle, Sheriff Tulyet has Sir John Moyles as a prisoner with privileges (he's a favorite of the King), and Brother Michael is about to leave for a bishopric. That would be enough without a new barber surgeon committing malpractice on Matt's patients while accusing him of encroaching on his profession, battling monument makers, and an increase in smuggling. Not to Gregory who adds the murder of Chancellor Tynknell. Soon Moylens is dead too - murdered i the same way and three of the five candidates to replace Tynknell are no longer in the running. One is dead, one (along with an apprentice) is missing, and the third has withdrawn. Michael, Matt, and Tulyet are experienced investigators, but they're hampered by Matt's medieval ethics, the increasing feebleness of Tulyet's sergeant, and Michael's needs o solve the case and install a proper puppet - I mean Chancellor - before he leaves Cambridge. A Grave concern ties together several complicated plot lines and allows our detectives to serve justice after several false conclusions. The personal stories, however, have a bit of a twist, and I'm looking forward to Matthew Bartholomew's 23rd Chronicle.
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