Murder by the Book - Couverture rigide

The corpse was on its back, eyes fixed sightlessly on the sky above, arms flung out to the sides and legs dangling in the river. It was a youth with fair curls, a shabby tunic that had once been stylish, and ink on his fingers. It was a wicked shame, thought Matthew Bartholomew, physician and Doctor of Medicine at the College of Michaelhouse, that his life had been cut so brutally short.

'You can see why I called you,' said Richard Tulyet. He was Cambridge's Sheriff, a slightly built man, whose wispy beard and boyish looks led criminals to underestimate him; they never made the same mistake twice. 'His clothes and the stains on his hands ...'

'You think he is a scholar,' surmised Brother Michael. As Senior Proctor, it was his duty to determine whether the dead boy was a member of the University, and if so, to investigate what had happened. 'I do not recognise him.'

'I do,' said Bartholomew. 'His name is Adam, and he scribes for the University stationer.'

Michael shuddered. 'His throat has been cut from ear to ear.'

Tulyet turned away from the corpse. 'He is the third person to have been found with a slashed throat near the river over the last eight weeks or so.'

It is drawing near to the end of term, and the University at Cambridge is in turmoil over the opening of a new Common Library. There is an attack on one of the masters at a meeting to discuss the matter, and a body is found floating in the pond in the library's garden on the eve of its opening.

Meanwhile, there are rumours of a large force of dangerous smugglers lurking in the Fens. Aided by their friend Sheriff Tulyet, Bartholomew and Michael must thwart the invaders before the Feast of Corpus Christi the following week. To fail might mean the destruction of the town...