One of the more genuinely suspenseful of the late Cadfael oeuvre. ( )

The prose of Ellis Peters is phenomenal in it's own way. This time out the mystery has clues and red herrings a plenty, with the background of the civil war still thrown in to keep us entertained. A much better addition to the canon then some of the other previous ones of late. ( )

#12 in Brother Cadfael’s medieval mystery series, in which Abbot Rodolphus returns from a conference in Winchester with a new priest in tow to head up the church in Shrewsbury. Much more harsh and rigid than his predecessor, who was well-loved and forgiving, Father Ailnoth is found dead in the mill-pond on Christmas morning with at least half a dozen parishioners with good cause to have murdered him. Hugh Beringar is off at King Stephen’s court to pay homage to his leader now that Stephen has dealt soundly with the upstart Empress Maud and is back on the throne, where Hugh hopes to find out if he will become the official sheriff of the county or if Stephen will appoint someone more influential. Cadfael pokes around in his usual wise yet unofficial manner to solve the mystery. Enjoyable, as always. ( )

"Men die, and thinking men see a morsel of their own death in every one that draws close to them, but the young soon recover." - p. 91

"… it will be a long journey through purgatory, but no doubt even the most winding way gets there in the end." - p. 161 ( )

As always, I love Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael series and this is another Mediaeval murder mystery. I made myself a chart of the daily prayer schedule so I could figure out the times as they are mentioned. Brother Cadfael demonstrates again is wisdom and compasion. ( )