I love all of her mysteries about the Medieval monk, Cadfael. This was just the first one I read. Because of the fictional Cadfael, I even visited Shrewsbury in England and discovered a very real and charming historic town.

In this sixth book in the Brother Cadfael medieval mystery series, we experience a moving juxtaposition of birth and death during a bitter cold Christmastime. Brother Cadfael, who took orders late in life and entered the Abbey at Shrewsbury, England, spent his early years in the world and most notably on Crusades in the service of Robert of Normandy. He now lives simply at the Abbey as herbalist, but brings from those years of violence an observant eye, a depth of knowledge and highly honed skills in criminology. All of these attributes are needed as he wades into a complex situation during the time of another disruptive battle between The Empress Maud and King Stephen. Two children of noble parentage are lost amongst the refugees fleeing from the sacking of Worcester. The young girl makes willful, unwise choices leading to dangerous circumstances for both her and her brother. Their guardian sends a trusted warrior to help find them, leading to an astounding revelation in the final pages. Hugh Beringar, able under-sheriff of the shire, also joins the hunt, immediately following the birth of his first child. He brings to Cadfael, who is in the midst of caring for a badly beaten Brother and pondering the mystery of a dead woman found encased in ice, this joyous news of his son's birth plus the birth of a son to a refugee couple from Worcester living with the Beringars. After the successful solving of the young woman's murder, there is a poignant exchange between Cadfael and Hugh as they make their way back to Shrewsbury, to Hugh's new son and to the imminent Christmas feast. Not only Hugh and the couple from Worcester have new sons, but to Cadfael, himself, has been revealed the existence of a son he never knew existed. He muses, "A time of births, of triumphant begettings, and this year how richly celebrated--the son of the young woman from Worcester, the son of Aline and Hugh, the son of Mariam {Cadfael's long ago mistress in Antioch}, the Son of Man..." ( )

At the request of an old chum, Cadfael goes to another monastery to help with the care of a sick monk. We see the effects of disorder at the top further down the scale in society with refugees from the sack of Worcester and outlaws involved in the latest mystery.

I would have given this a higher rating, but naughty Ms. Ellis uses the same effect twice in this book with different characters (and it's one she's used before in other books). ( )

Upon reading the previous chronicle of Brother Cadfael, I commented that the novels were getting formulaic. While some of those comments hold true, Ellis Peters really breaks the mold in this sixth adventure. Instead of a simple murder mystery, Cadfael finds himself in the midst of a land where civil war has prompted a band of outlaws to terrorize the country. Several crimes must be solved and missing persons found, which Cadfael does in good time, but for once the whodunit? is not the focus of the book. Instead, this novel focus more on the adventure, the alliances formed and broken, and the mysteries of human behavior. It is almost like a war novel in that sense. Peters also has been building up to a revelation for sometime in these books - silly as it seems - that Cadfael has a son, daring and intelligent as he. ( )

Book six in the Brother Cadfael series, Brother Cadfael helps solve the mystery of a murdered woman found in a frozen stream. It is a mystery on top of a mystery because first he must find out the identity of the woman before he can find her murderer. Two nobile wards have come up missing, a vicious group of outlaws are riding across the land murdering and pillaging, and added to the mix is the muddled rantings of an injured monk. The ending is quite a treat, and we find that Brother Cadfael is up for a big surprise.

Wonderful. ( )