‘It really is a most engaging book.’ Jenny Uglow
‘A delightful crime novel set in a fictitious Cambridge college in 1868. This college, named 'de Vere College' after the sixteenth century Earl of Oxford, is not a disguised Queens'.. but an imaginary late medieval foundation on the banks of the Cam beyond Magdalene and opposite Jesus Green. We are given splendid maps of its locations and courts..It begins with the Librarian being found murdered and the papers he had discovered proving that de Vere wrote Shakespeare stolen. There are several more corpses, a charming love interest, some literary and theological asides, and an exciting sub-plot..The book contains lots of attractive line drawings including those of a number of rare chess pieces that play an important part in the narrative. All this comes at a very modest price. I recommend it warmly to everyone I meet.’
Queens' College Record 2009
‘Professor Langford writes with easy knowledge of time, place and subject, and he juggles the pieces of the complex puzzle in masterly fashion.’ The Newsletter of the Sherlock Homes Society of London
‘The Cambridge college and the period background (including the ceremonial circulation of Madeira and port) are very well described. Recommended, partly because it is so different from most crime thrillers! It makes a good academic joke.’ Clerical Detectives by Philip Grosset
A historical mystery
Author: Professor Michael Langford
I
t is 1868. At De Vere College, Cambridge, the dons discuss Darwin, God, new literature and the fledgling Shakespeare Authorship Question. But the librarian’s blood is seeping from under his oak door, and the ancient manuscripts he had found are gone.
Why has he been brutally murdered? Why do other deaths follow? 
Who is seeking the fabled monastic treasure, and who wants to keep it hidden?
Dr Simon Weatherspoon investigates. Is he entirely the respectable young clergyman he seems to be?
When his extra-curricular life is disclosed, how will it define him in the eyes of feminist critic Theresa Brown?
And can he reach the college treasure before the murderer reaches him?
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ISBN: 978-1-898594-83-3 |
About the author: Michael J. Langford is an Emeritus Professor in Philosophy and Medical Ethics. He now teaches part-time in the Divinity Faculty at Cambridge University.
To watch a video of the author reading an excerpt from the book: Click Here