A Plague On Both Your Houses

"A Plague on Both Your Houses" introduces the physician Matthew Bartholomew

. . . whose unorthodox but effective treatment of his patients frequently draws accusations of heresy from his more traditional colleagues. Besides his practice, Bartholomew is teacher of medicine at Michaelhouse, part of the fledgling University of Cambridge.

In 1348 the inhabitants of Cambridge live under the shadow of a terrible pestilence that has ravaged Europe and is travelling relentlessly eastwards towards England. Bartholomew, however, is distracted by the sudden and inexplicable death of the Master of Michaelhouse --a death the University authorities do not want investigated. His pursuit for the truth leads him into a complex tangle of lies and intrigue that causes him to question the innocence of his closest friends, and even his family.

And then the Black Death finally arrives .. .