Surrounded by a whole host of eccentric - and sometimes murderous - colleagues, some of whom actually existed, Dr Bartholomew is the sidekick of Brother Michael, and together they are regularly drawn into a web of treachery and deceit at Michaelhouse College.

In Susanna Gregory's latest offering, the pair are puzzled by a series of murders - and a couple of miraculous resurrections.

The area is recovering from the ravages of the plague and the university is in dire financial straits. Cambridge landlords are demanding extortionate rents for student accommodation and the atmosphere is tense.

Into the volatile mix comes a charismatic physician with his magic feather, challenging the town's doctors and its sole, albeit inept, surgeon.

Matthew and Brother Michael have more than their fair share of work to unmask a killer, get to the bottom of an illegal gambling den and ease tensions before the city erupts.

At the same time Matthew must battle to protect his reputation as a first class and honest physician while his erstwhile patients turn to the newcomer for miracle cures.

As the death toll mounts and the townsfolk become more belligerent, Matthew and Brother Michael have their work cut out in this historical whodunit.

Susanna Gregory brings the 14th Century to rollicking life with her colourful characters and sinister slaughters.

It's all there, from wealth and luxury to the stinking, fetid squalor; the poor and the prostitutes, the swaggering bullies and drunks, the wannabes and the parvenus; the desperate, daily grind when death could come calling at any moment, the superstitions, the bizarre beliefs and cures which could kill.

Every town should have its Matthew Bartholomew and Brother Michael. If they did not exist, they should have done!

To Kill or Cure is an edge-of-the-seat read, unputdownable from first page to last.

(Sphere, paperback, £7.99)