When Shrewsbury Castle falls, Brother Cadfael discovers a murder mystery amid the wreckage In the summer of 1138, war between King Stephen and the Empress Maud takes Brother Cadfael from the quiet world of his garden into a battlefield of passions, deceptions, and death. Not far from the safety of the abbey walls, Shrewsbury Castle falls, leaving its ninety-four defenders loyal to the empress to hang as traitors. With a heavy heart, Brother Cadfael...

In November, 1139 A.D., Brother Cadfeal becomes involved in the search for two missing orphans and their escort.

When a troubled novice is blamed for the disappearance of a priest, Brother Cadfael seeks to save his soul-and his life Outside the pale of the Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, in September of 1140, a priestly emissary for King Stephen has been reported missing. But inside the pale, what troubles Brother Cadfael is a proud, secretive nineteen-year-old novice.   Brother Cadfael has never seen two men more estranged than the Lord of Aspley and...

Amid a flood of pilgrims seeking solace in a saintly celebration, Brother Cadfael seeks the killer of a dear friend In the year of our Lord 1141, civil war over England's throne leaves a legacy of violence-and the murder of a knight dear to Brother Cadfael. And with gentle bud-strewn May, a flood of pilgrims comes to the celebration of Saint Winifred at the Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, carrying with it many strange souls-and perhaps the knight's...

Christmas, AD 1141 Abbot Radulfus returns from London, bringing with him a priest for the vacant living of Holy Cross (known as the Foregate), a man of presence, scholarship and discipline, but neither humility nor the common touch. When he is found drowned in the mill-pond, suspicion is cast in many directions, not least towards a young man who came in the priest's train, sent to work in Brother Cadfael's garden. For he has little obvious priestly

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Charges of heresy and murder are complicated by the contents of a mysterious treasure chest In the summer of 1143, William of Lythwood arrives at the Benedictine Abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul, but it is not a joyous occasion-he's come back from his pilgrimage in a coffin. William's body is accompanied by his young attendant Elave, whose mission is to secure a burial place for his master on the abbey grounds, despite William's having once been reprimanded...

A respite in the 12th-century struggle for the English throne between King Stephen and Empress Maud lends Brother Cadfael the opportunity to accompany a friend to Wales on a diplomatic venture. But they soon find themselves involved in another royal feud.

To save his estranged son, a monk risks breaking his vows in this “moving and suspenseful” entry in the Silver Dagger Award–winning medieval mystery series (Booklist For Brother Cadfael in the autumn of his life, the mild November of our Lord’s year 1145 may bring a bitter—and deadly—harvest. England is torn between supporters of the Empress Maud and those of her cousin Stephen. The civil strife is about to jeopardize not only Cadfael’s...