Michael takes Matthew along to Ely when the bishop requests him to investigate a death where the bishop himself is implicated. Matthew is looking forward to reading books in the priory's library, but that's easier said than done. The deaths keep happening but Michael and Matthew struggle to find the culprit until very late.

Perhaps a couple of deaths too many for my liking, but I liked the depiction of the priory and the feuding between the monks. ( )

Gregory's eighth instalment of the Matthew Bartholomew Chronicles takes our unassuming hero and his overly self-important sidekick, Senior Proctor Michael, out of Cambridge to the Isle of Ely in the Fens. The Benedictine priory at Ely has a richly stocked library and the scholar in Matthew is excited at the chance to study some of the books there. But when they arrive the thought of the library is pushed from his mind as he and Michael find that the reason they have been called to the city is because Michael's patron, de Lisle, Bishop of Ely, has been accused by Lady Blanche de Wake of murdering William Glovere. Add two more apparent suicides (Haywarde and Chaloner) and multiple burglaries (blamed on the gypsies); and we’re soon steeped in another well-crafted mystery.

Very quickly Bartholomew ascertains that the ‘suicides’ were in fact murdered in the same manner (a sharp implement inserted into the base of the neck). Eight more murders follow before our sleuths untangle the web of intrigue and catch the culprit(s).

Gregory's ability to set scene and plot in such a short space of time, taking you right into the heart of thirteenth century England is faultless. ( )