He parodied Catholic dogma, ‘The world is beautiful, and outside it there is no salvation’ ( Lyrical and Critical Essays [1938] 1968: 103). I am a recent convert to Susanna Gregory and I have a lot of catching up to do because there are over 20 of the M B books. Bartholomew’s unorthodox but effective treatment of his patients frequently draws accusations of heresy from his more traditional colleagues. For me, though, the most interesting aspect was Matt's trying to deal with the plague and its impact, which was beyond imagination.

Gregory’s novels of this series fall into the genre of medieval detective stories, a genre that I am very fond of. I did like the characters, and look forward to continuing with the series but I hope future books are a little more streamlined. There were some characters that appeared early on and then again towards the end, by which time I had forgotten who they were. Finally Juliet learns that if she wants to marry Romeo, she need only go to Friar Lawrence’s cell that afternoon.Johns Hopkins University may tell me that there are today (July 27) 16,264,048 cases of coronavirus worldwide and 648,966 deaths; but ask relatives of the dead and dying, to them one life matters. As it lifted the body, one arm flopped loose in a ghostly parody of a wave, which continued until the corpse dived feet first back into the water for another cycle. His pursuit of the truth leads him into a complex tangle of lies and intrigue that cause him to question the innocence of his closest friends – and even his family.

Humanism outshines fideism (a system of life and thought based on faith); but the absurd unpredictability of life ultimately conquers all. Unwittingly, perhaps, sharing Camus’s world, many of these could play a worthy role in one of his novels. When plague struck yet again in 1606, Shakespeare and his company toured the English countryside, during which time he wrote Macbeth, Anthony and Cleopatra and a revised version of King Lear, which is now the definitive version. and wanting it out in the world, I printed it up as a Halloween pamphlet that I circulated to friends and colleagues. He jumped violently, as a large cat stalked past his hiding place, glancing at him briefly with alert yellow eyes.As Bartholomew investigates, he uncovers a horrific web of lies and intrigue that makes him question those closest to him and may result in the destruction of the university itself.