A Summer of Discontent cover art

A Summer of Discontent

The Eighth Matthew Bartholomew Chronicle

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for £0.00
£8.99/mo thereafter. Renews automatically. Terms apply. Offer ends 31 July 2025 at 23:59 GMT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.

A Summer of Discontent

By: Susanna Gregory
Narrated by: David Thorpe
Try for £0.00

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Offer ends 31 July 2025 23:59 GMT. Cancel monthly.

Buy Now for £16.99

Buy Now for £16.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

Matthew Bartholomew jumps at the chance to travel to Ely with Brother Michael, as it will give him a unique opportunity to study in the richly stocked library of the Benedictine priory.

Michael has been summoned to the city by his bishop, but it isn't until they arrive that they discover the reason - the bishop has been accused of murder. The charge seems ludicrous, but Michael takes the investigation seriously and energetically sets about his task. Almost immediately he discovers that there appears to have been a series of unexplained deaths in the area.

At the same time, Bartholomew comes across an underground movement of rebellion against the church and the tithes they demand from the laity, and the two men also learn that there has been a spate of burglaries which are being blamed on a band of travellers.

Then a fellow of the priory is murdered almost under their noses. Can this death be connected to the others? Are all the killings linked to the burgeoning rebellion in the city?

Once again Susanna Gregory has created a superbly crafted mystery narrated with wit and style against a perfectly realised period background.

©2017 Susanna Gregory (P)2017 Little Brown Book Group Crime Fiction Historical Mystery Fiction Crime

Listeners also enjoyed...

 A Plague on Both Your Houses cover art
A Conspiracy of Violence cover art
The Chelsea Strangler cover art
The Executioner of St Paul's cover art
Say It With Poison, Mitchell and Markby Village, Book 1 cover art
The Frost Fair cover art
Cathedral of Bones cover art
Vindolanda cover art
The First Horseman cover art
Maisie Dobbs cover art
Ironfoot cover art
A Man Lay Dead cover art
The Bookseller's Tale cover art
The Seeker cover art
The Great Game cover art
Blood on the Crown cover art
All stars
Most relevant  

If you could sum up A Summer of Discontent in three words, what would they be?

Historical + detective = interesting

What did you like best about this story?

The mystery, although slightly predictable, was nevertheless interesting, in some places amusing and the interplay between the two main characters had depth. I feel as if the author has finally got into her stride and, having already listened to the newly published books, this is the first book I can say I thoroughly enjoyed all the way through.

What about David Thorpe’s performance did you like?

Thorpe does a pretty good job of Bartholomew but has a strange interpretation of some of the other characters, especially female voices and one of the monks who is small in the previous book. Nevertheless, in A Summer of Discontent this is one of Thorpe's better performances.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Not a comedy but there were moments between Bartholomew and Michael that did make me laugh, other than that it was an interesting read/listen.

Any additional comments?

If you have found the earlier books hard to get through then start with this one as both the books and the narrator get significantly better from here on in.

A good listen with nice historical detail

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Another great story and brilliantly read tale of 14th century Cambridge. Matthew Batholomew and Brother Michael once again have to unravel the tale behind a number of murders. I enjoyed reading the book myself, but David Thorpe's reading brings another very satisfying dimension to this novel.

Excellently researched & read Medieval who done it

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Easy listen, frequent summaries of the plot makes it easy to keep track of what's happening if you get distracted.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

I guessed the ending, so many people get killed it isn't too hard to work out.

Any additional comments?

The Matthew Bartholomew Chronicles are pretty formulaic. Someone gets killed, Matthew and Michael investigate, more people get killed and then Matthew eventually works out who did it. Every so often Matthew reviews the plot so if you've drifted off you get a reminder about what's going on. I thought the body count was a bit too high in this one meaning that there weren't too many people left who could have committed the crime at the end.

Another medieval murder mystery

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I really like this series and while admittedly they can be a bit long winded they are well written. some are not as good as others but that is so very subjective but what is undeniable is that the narrator is brilliant so much so i have brought other books simply because he is narrating. would definitely advice reading in order.

best of the series so far

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Really enjoyed this one even though the ending wasn’t really a surprise. Fantastic characters and good historic context.

A great listen

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Lots of murders and overall mayhem, as usual, on a background of historical authenticity. Another excellent and thoroughly enjoyable tale from Susanna Gregory. Added to this, a brilliant interpretation of various characters by the superb narrator; Michael is absolutely perfect! Together with Matt, they (as brought to life by David Thorpe) make me wish I could go back in time. The interrogation in the Infirmarium of the deaf Roger (interspersed with shouts of war from another patient) was absolutely hilarious! Brilliant series, great characters, awesome narration.

Summer of mayhem!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
David Thorpe is excellent as always and brings the characters to life! Great Series.

Brilliant

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
loved it .Great writer , great narrator .really enjoyed this audible book , David Thorpe really brings the characters to life .

GREAT BOOK

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Although it was certainly a good story, I’d formed a good idea of who the murderer was fairly early on.

The narrator was outstanding: his versatility of voices was amazing, and really brought the story alive.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
love these stories. the narrator is amazing. despite this being a great tale, I did think the protagonists and their motives were telegraphed quite obviously throughout, so the result was not a great surprise. however, I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Fabulous if a little predictable

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews