Matthew Bartholomew has long found 13th century Cambridge a hotbed of intrigue, secrets, betrayals, plots and murders.

A trip to York with fellow scholars promises the physician a respite -- until he discovers that this city is no different to the other one.

Soon churchmen, lawyers and merchants are dropping like flies and Matthew has another convoluted and life-threatening mystery to solve, in this new paperback.

Why have several executors of the recently-deceased Archbishop's estate died in suspicious circumstances, and who are the spies passing secrets to the French in readiness for a long-feared invasion?

Historically credible but not so gritty as Gregory's Thomas Chaloner adventures or the novels of CJ Sansom and Rory Clements, this entertaining whodunnit sees Susanna Gregory on fine form.

David Knights