Allreaders.com

Matricide at St. Martha's Book Summary and Study Guide

Detailed plot synopsis reviews of Matricide at St. Martha's


St. Martha's College in Cambridge has been providing a quality, conservative, low-budget education for women for many years. Then the college receives a bequest of money upon the death of a wealthy alumna. Debate over what to do with the money divides the faculty into three factions. The Virgins believe that the money should be used for scholarships in traditional areas such as medieval history. The Dykes believe that the college should have a center for Gender and Ethnic Studies. The Old Women (who are mostly men) believe that the money should be used to build an excellent wine cellar for the faculty.
Click here to see the rest of this review...


The murder of Dame Maud Theodosia Buckbarrow, the head of the college and a Virgin, upsets the balance of power in this academic feud. Robert Amiss, a visiting fellow of the college, and Detective Sargent Ellis Pooley set out to find the murderer in this hilarious, satirical look at modern campus politics.
The review of this Book prepared by Linda Bertland



Chapter Analysis of Matricide at St. Martha's

Click on a plot link to find similar books!

Plot & Themes

Composition of Book descript. of violence and chases 10%Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives 30%Feelings, relationships, character bio/development 40%How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) 20% Tone of story    -   Dry-cynical How difficult to spot villain?    -   Difficult, but some clues given Time/era of story:    -   1980's-1999 What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot?    -   50% Murder of certain profession?    -   students/teachers Misc. Murder Plotlets    -   local police w/ IQ of a houseplant Kind of investigator    -   british mystery (I say!) Kid or adult book?    -   Adult or Young Adult Book Any non-mystery subplot?    -   minority/women/gay rights Crime Thriller    -   Yes Murder Mystery (killer unknown)    -   Yes

Main Character

Gender    -   Male Profession/status:    -   teacher Age:    -   20's-30's Ethnicity/Race    -   British

Setting

Europe    -   Yes European country:    -   England/UK

Writing Style

Accounts of torture and death?    -   generic/vague references to death/punishment Amount of dialog    -   significantly more dialog than descript

Books with storylines, themes & endings like Matricide at St. Martha's

Ruth Dudley Edwards Books Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).
2 Ways to Search!
Or



Our Chief Librarian