A Vein of Deceit by Susannah Gregory

Matthew Bartholemew has given up looking for the woman he loves, Mathilde, and returned to the college where he teaches and works. Michaelhouse is unexpectedly short of funds, which is strange because they recently took on an entire new group of students, complete with their tuitions. But the situation has gotten so bad that the food from the kitchens is barely edible, and worse than that, someone has stolen the pair of silver Chalices given to Michaelhouse by its founder.

But more than just money is wanting. After Matthew is summoned to side of a dying woman, he discovers that several medicines are missing from his stores, and one of them, Pennyroyal, is what killed his sister's friend, Dame Joan Elyan. He worries that one of his own students could have taken it from his stores, and given it to the woman- although for what reason he cannot say. Nobody but him seems to trust his students, and now he's wondering if he has been hasty in extending that trust.

Just before a weekly debate, Matthew is asked to attend upon the College's head, Langlee, and look through the college's books. What he discovers is startling. 30 Marks, a great deal of money, is missing from the college's books, and appears to have been spent on coal, pigs and wood- but the college never received the goods. Wynewyk, the Michaelhouse treasurer, seems to be to blame, but before anyone can question him, he dies at the college debate, apparently from laughing too long and loudly.

But his death means that Matthew and his colleague, Brother Michael, cannot question him to discover the truth about what happened to the College's money. It's no secret that Wynewyk was a scoundrel and a cheat, but Langlee hoped that Wynewyk would use his legendary powers of double-dealing and craftiness on behalf of the college, not use them to cheat the college. But Langlee, who once checked up often on Wynewyk's figures, had grown to trust him, and no longer kept so strict a watch on their colleague.

Now, the only solution is for Matthew and Brother Michael to go to Suffolk and retrieve the college's missing money. But there, they discover that the money is part of a dispute between two towns over a strange coal mine. And one of the men involved in the dispute is the husband of the pregnant woman who may have been killed with Matthew's Pennyroyal. She was pregnant, and had her child lived, it would have substantially altered the outcome of the matter, which also involves another college nearby.

But that's not all they'll discover on the road. For more is lurking in Suffolk than just the answers to the mysteries and problems besetting Matthew, Brother Michael, the rest of the scholars of Michaelhouse. Because another set of villains lurks, waiting to be exposed... but can Matthew stand for the truth to be shown?

I have always enjoyed the Matthew Bartholemew books, ever since I read my first, "A Plague on Both Your Houses", and the prediction I made when I read the last book in the series came true in this one, that as soon as Matthew stopped looking for Matilda, we'd probably see her turn up again. And yes, but for now, she is being kept a secret from him.

In a way, this book's title is very appropriate, more so than even most of the books in this series, as everything in the book is based on lies. The lies of different characters to each other, to themselves, and to those who love them twists and distorts the lives of everyone in the book, Matthew included. I loved how each piece of information eventually came to hold some importance to the plot, although I did twig to one important item immediately.

I also loved the continuity of the characters. Many secondary (and even tertiary) characters from past books return, whether they are indigent patients of Matthew, unable to pay for their medicines, so he gives them the medicine for free, his students, the scholars and teachers at Michaelhouse, Matthew's sister and other characters have all appeared before. But here, we see them begin to pay him back for his care of them with their own help. It was very nice to see, and heartwarming to read.

Read this book, and you will find a well-crafted medieval mystery with great characters who exhibit real human frailties and cunning insight. But these aren't just cardboard characters, but ones that will become close to your heart, who you can cheer on and root for, and that's what you have here. Recommended.