Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A Plague on Both Your Houses | 1996 | Susanna Gregory | Buy |
| 2 | I segreti di Cambridge | 1996 | Susanna Gregory | N/A |
| 3 | An Unholy Alliance | 1996 | Susanna Gregory | Buy |
| 4 | A Bone of Contention | 1997 | Susanna Gregory | Buy |
| 5 | A Deadly Brew | 1998 | Susanna Gregory | Buy |
| 6 | A Wicked Deed | 1999 | Susanna Gregory | Buy |
| 7 | A Masterly Murder | 2000 | Susanna Gregory | Buy |
| 8 | An Order for Death | 2001 | Susanna Gregory | Buy |
| 9 | A Summer of Discontent | 2002 | Susanna Gregory | Buy |
| 10 | A Killer in Winter | 2003 | Susanna Gregory | Buy |
| 11 | The Hand of Justice | 2004 | Susanna Gregory | Buy |
| 12 | The Mark of a Murderer | 2005 | Susanna Gregory | Buy |
| 13 | The Tarnished Chalice | 2006 | Susanna Gregory | Buy |
| 14 | To Kill or Cure | 2008 | Susanna Gregory | Buy |
| 15 | The Devil’s Disciples | 2008 | Susanna Gregory | Buy |
| 16 | A Vein of Deceit | 2009 | Susanna Gregory | Buy |
| 17 | A Killer of Pilgrims | 2010 | Susanna Gregory | Buy |
| 18 | Mystery in the Minster | 2011 | Susanna Gregory | Buy |
| 19 | Murder by the Book | 2012 | Susanna Gregory | Buy |
| 20 | The Lost Abbot | 2013 | Susanna Gregory | Buy |
| 21 | Death of a Scholar | 2014 | Susanna Gregory | Buy |
| 22 | A Poisonous Plot | 2015 | Susanna Gregory | Buy |
| 23 | A Grave Concern | 2016 | Susanna Gregory | Buy |
| 24 | The Habit of Murder | 2017 | Susanna Gregory | Buy |
| 25 | The Sanctuary Murders | 2019 | Susanna Gregory | Buy |
| 26 | The Chancellor’s Secret | 2021 | Susanna Gregory | Buy |
The Matthew Bartholomew series is Susanna Gregory’s longest and best-known work, running for 26 books over 25 years. The series is set in 14th-century Cambridge, where Bartholomew works as a physician and teacher at Michaelhouse, a small college within the University. His progressive medical ideas (he washes his hands, uses evidence-based treatments, and teaches anatomy) put him at odds with his more conservative colleagues, while his curiosity about unnatural deaths repeatedly draws him into murder investigations.
The first novel, A Plague on Both Your Houses (1996), is set during the Black Death of 1348 and establishes the key cast: Bartholomew, his friend Brother Michael (a Benedictine monk and the Bishop’s spy), and the quarrelsome fellows of Michaelhouse. Across the series, the action stays rooted in Cambridge’s colleges, churches, and streets, with the town-gown rivalries, religious disputes, and political scheming of the period providing motives for murder. Gregory’s background as a former coroner’s officer and her years living in Cambridge give the novels a grounding in both forensic logic and local geography that holds the long series together.