The Mark of a Murderer

By: Susanna Gregory

Narrated by: Andrew Wincott

Length: 16 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

February 1355: Oxford explodes in one of the most serious riots of its turbulent history. Fearing for their lives, the scholars flee the city, and some choose the University at Cambridge as their temporary refuge. But they don't remain safe for long. Within hours of their arrival, the first of their number dies, followed quickly by a second. When Matthew Bartholomew begins to investigate the deaths, he uncovers evidence that the Oxford riot was not a case of random violence, but part of a carefully orchestrated plot.

© Susanna Gregory; (P) Clipper Audio

DREADFUL narrator

Absolutely awful attempt to dramatize the story. Bring back Thorpe. Will be returning this one.

Why the change in narration?

listened via Audible. This is the 11th book in the series, but figuring that out is a challenge as it is not listed anywhere on the title cover. Also, there is a different narrator than on the prior 10 books. I don't like the change in pronunciation of characters (i.e. Ruffum now rauw-um), nor the change in voices to familiar characters such as Michael and Cendric. It was unsettling and took multiple chapters for me to embrace the concept that these weren't all new characters, but rather the same familiar folks pronounced in a different way.

Great Historical Mystery

This is a great historical mystery and is part of the Matthew Bartholomew Chronicles. I love these chronicles and was delighted to find one on audible. I hope they do more. The setting is Medieval Cambridge and as always the solution of the murder will come as a surprise. I adored the reader and all the Matthew Bartholomew CHronicales will be recorded.

Fun but a little confused

I enjoyed this murder mystery set in Medieval Cambridge and found the two main characters - Matthew and Michael - really enjoyable. The dynamic between them is very fun and adds a layer to the story. However, the plot and clues just kept getting more and more elaborate and improbable. I found the denoument quite unsatisfying and many many threads were lost. It just didn't come together as a satisfying mystery, though the historic element is quite nicely done.

New narrator: bit of a jolt

This narrator's voice characterizations were less varied than the reader that performed all the previous books in the series - all aggressive and gravelly. After getting to know all the characters so well (by bingeing the books!) , it was disappointing to encounter all these strangers.

As expected

I am familiar with these characters from reading the books. This was an enjoyable excursion into "long ago and far away". As a mystery, well, maybe it didn't play fair. The solution came outta left field. Not that the solution was bad, just a bit sneaky. It is a bit wordy but the characters are well developed and the historical back drop is sound. I enjoyed it.

Terrible narration

The voices used sounded nothing like the previous 10 books nor like the author's descriptions.

The Mark of a Murderer

I was introduced to Susanna Gregory's 14th century detectives through the sequel to this book "The Tarnished Chalice". I was immediately intrigued by the two main characters, Brother Michael, the waddling senior proctor of Cambridge University, and his corpse examiner and physician Matthew Bartholomew.

These two detectives guided me through the church-driven world of Cambridge in 1355 AD and its interesting crimes. The brilliant narration of Andrew Wilcott helped tremendously to bring all characters and the surroundings to life.

All in all I can only recommend this book. If you are willing to follow the author and her narrator into this unknown and mysterious milieu, I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Loved the story

Not a fan of the narrator. I’m sure it’s because I’m used to the previous one, but I’m glad this gentleman only narrated this one and the next in series. My brain isn’t up to new voices. Lol

Scholarly detectives follow the body count

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Less carnage, more suspense, better detectives chasing fewer false leads.

Would you ever listen to anything by Susanna Gregory again?

Possibly

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

Liked the setting & narrator's character voices.

Was The Mark of a Murderer worth the listening time?

Yes, but just barely