In 1357, Cambridge's landlords impose steep rent increases on student hostels while the university is still financially weakened by the plague years. Town-and-gown hostility rises towards open violence, leaving Brother Michael struggling to preserve order.
A charismatic healer also arrives, winning patients with remedies that appear miraculous and challenging Matthew Bartholomew's reputation as a physician. When death follows the newcomer's treatments, Bartholomew must distinguish medical error from deliberate killing while uncovering how the healer's success is connected to the dispute over rents.