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  • A Plague on Both Your Houses

  • The First Chronicle of Matthew Bartholomew
  • By: Susanna Gregory
  • Narrated by: David Thorpe
  • Length: 13 hrs and 2 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (495 ratings)

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A Plague on Both Your Houses

By: Susanna Gregory
Narrated by: David Thorpe
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Summary

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.

©1996 Susanna Gregory (P)2017 Little Brown Book Group
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What listeners say about A Plague on Both Your Houses

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic !

I absolutely love these books and they have helped me through some very dark times. Thank you so much and keep them coming.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

My First Matthew Bartholomew - And Not My Last

This is my first listen to a Susanna Gregory novel in my search for a worthy follow-up to C J Sansom's, Shardlake series. It fitted my needs and has a very able narrator that is able to characterise the various voices with great skill. I am pleased to see that he reads the others in the series. I purchased the second in this series with readiness. I listened whilst keeping safe at home from Covid-19. Perhaps because of this the novel's depiction of the plague that descended on Cambridge in 1348 had real impact both in terms of who catches the plague and whom not, and the various attitudes to it. It seemed very realistic. I like the way that Matthew Bartholomew is out of the ordinary as a physician, not being mired in a limited medical outlook. I also liked the manner in which he was not immediately clear about what was going on; this fallibility was appealing. I very much liked the plump ripeness of the character of Brother Michael - at least in the narrator's portrayal of him. I am hoping he returns in subsequent novels. There are other characters too that one hopes will return as they provide healthy energy and challenge to the physician detective.Well worth a listen.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Needs tweaking but overall it’s good

The authoress contradicts the story content at least once
The narrator isn’t consistent with his voice when announcing chapters and does get stretched with soo many voice , two characters sound a little alike and the one doesn’t sound pompous just camp and lisping
The story does have plenty of twists and turns to keep the listener interested

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

A bit long winded

The story was too complicated and there were too many characters. There were very long explanations of the plot, who did what etc. I thought that the characters were well drawn. I liked Matt and Michael.
The narrator was good, he had loads of different voices.
All in all I believe that the story needed a good editor.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

More Matt please

At last, the earlier books are coming to Audible. Sadly the narrator has changed from the old versions I have of some of the other books in the series, and now Michael has a quite effeminate voice which jarred with both those and my own impression of him. However, having enjoyed these stories and characters for so long I am happy to endure for the simple pleasure of having them on audio.
Thank you.







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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Good read

Really enjoy this book. The plot was original kept my interest, Love historical fiction mysteries and this is a good one

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Wonderfully atmospheric medieval fiction.

Loved this book, and have ordered the next book in the series. The narration was great and really brought the characters and story to life. I would highly recommend this author if you enjoy medieval fiction.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Loved it

Really enjoyed the historical context and the story. Read, as always by David Thorpe, very well indeed.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Weird, but I loved it

The plot of the story plods along, but I really enjoyed it anyway. The characters are well voiced and I could picture them in my head.

The plot twists and turns enough to keep it enjoyable and the right length not to get bored.

Enjoyed it so much I have now downloaded the other books in the series - hope they are as good!!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Simply superb

I read this on the recommendation of my partner - he has read the full series - and it's clear why he was hooked. The plot twists and turns, leaving you guessing until the end. Set against the background of the Black Death, it was very interesting to listen to in the current Sars-Cov-2 pandemic.

The narration was excellent.

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2 people found this helpful