Saint Peter's Fair

Derek Jacobi could read a phone book for all I care and I will still love it. As a child I watched Brother Cadfael with my mother and I am so glad to finally be reading the books that the PBS masterpiece theater series was based off of. Brother Cadfael is a medieval monk who always seems to stumble upon a mystery, during the annual fair a merchant is found murdered in the river, his valuables abandoned. Is this just a random act of thievery or is there something more sinister afoot? Wonderfully narrated by Derek Jacobi, this medieval murder mystery is damn good and keeps you guessing. Give me more!

I had a bit of genre whiplash with this one, as I'd picked it up after a month of binge re-reading urban fantasy. To say that the change in pace required an adjustment is an understatement. So it's possible that this book deserves a higher rating even than the 4 stars I gave it, but the fact remains that as much as I loved the writing, it felt like it was taking forever.

I can think of a few authors who try to use the structure of the book to build up suspense, but I'm not sure I've seen it so effectively done as Ellis has here. Breaking each day into it's own section doesn't sound like much, but - in my edition at least - each day is announced on it's own page, free of any other text; the result was a quiet tension.

Unfortunately, as show more effective as it was, I still found that the bad guy was telegraphed by virtue of the cast of characters; the person served no apparent use to the plot. The character wasn't the only one I suspected, nor the only one that was seemingly useless, but he was the one that felt the most obvious.

Nevertheless, it was an excellent mystery and brilliant writing. I'm giddy, having so many more adventures with Brother Cadfael to look forward to.

I read this for Halloween Bingo, Murder Most Foul square show less

“Child, [death] is with us always,” said Cadfael, patient beside him. “Last summer ninety-five men died here in the town, none of whom had done murder. For choosing the wrong side, they died. It falls upon blameless women in war, even in peace at the hands of evil men. It falls upon children who never did harm to any, upon old men, who in their lives have done good to many, and yet are brutally and senselessly slain. Never let it shake your faith that there is a balance hereafter. What you see is only a broken piece from a perfect whole.”

“Such justice as we see is also but a broken shred. But it is our duty to preserve what we may, and fit together such fragments as we find, and take the rest on trust.”
― Ellis Peters, St. show more Peter's Fair show less

Summary: The murder of a merchant from Bristol during Saint Peter’s Fair is the first of a string of break-ins culminating in another murder; even while two young men vie for the attentions of the merchant’s bereaved niece.

It is the year after Shrewsbury was beseiged and the town is still recovering from the grievous effects of their loss and submission to King Stephen. For the abbey, it is time to play host to Saint Peter’s Fair, a time when merchants come from around both England and nearby Wales to sell their wares to feasting and games and other forms of celebration. It would seem a time to forget the troubles of the past but not for the town fathers, who see the revenues going to the abbey by grant of the king that could have show more helped rebuild the town. They confront the new abbot, Radulfus, who hears them out but will not deviate from the provisions of their grant, much to the townsmen’s dismay.

In this first encounter, Radulfus appears rigid and caring more about law than good relations. But don’t write him off too soon. He’s careful, shrewd, and as we will see, caring.

The scene shifts to the fair. Cadfael is helping interpret for a Welshmen when a conflict breaks out. Younger men of the town approach one of the richest of vendors, Thomas of Bristol, to see if he and the other vendors will give what the abbot refuses. The young men are led by Philip Corviser, son of the man who led the delegation to the abbey. Thomas brusquely refuses them, Philip grasps his sleave to attempt to reason once more. Thomas reacts by striking him a heavy blow with a staff, sending Thomas reeling and resulting in a riot, with Cadfael judiciously intervening to get Thomas and his attractive niece, Emma, away from the melee.

That night, Emma comes to Cadfael. Thomas has not returned to their barge after setting up his stall at the fair. A search turns up Thomas’s body stripped naked in the Severn with his belongings nearby. He doesn’t appear to have been robbed but he’s been strangled. Philip, who has been drinking to deaden the pain from the blow he suffered has been speaking murderous threats, but is drunk. The authorities find him sleeping it off in a forest glade and arrest him.

But strange things keep going on. Someone searches Thomas’s barge, breaks into his stall and ties up the guard, and even searches inside Thomas’s casket. Then, another merchant is found dead in his stall, and his belongings also strewn about. Whoever it was suffered a torn cotte and a knife wound to the arm before succeeding at murder. It appears something is being searched for, and that Philip, who has been in jail, has no part of this. He joins Cadfael and Hugh Beringar in the search for the real murder or murderers, and locates the site where Thomas was murdered and dragged to the river, not far from where he had fallen asleep in a drunken stupor the night of the murder.

Cadfael has been charged by the abbot to aid the investigation. He secures Emma with Aline Beringar, Hugh’s wife. This doesn’t protect her from the attentions of young men, especially the wealthy estate holder, Ivo Corbiere, but also the humbler Philip, who doubts his chances. And Emma has not told Cadfael or Hugh all–namely the letter she carries that will endanger her life.

All this results in a page-turning climax as Hugh and Cadfael, assisted by Philip, and word from Brother Mark of a man he treated with a knife cut up his arm, piece together the clues as to the identity of the murderer and realize that Emma is in great jeopardy. One of the strong aspects of the story is the developing relationship of Cadfael and Hugh, two men with different callings and yet common values, who value each other’s company. Under the influence of Cadfael and Hugh, we see Philip grow up from the impulsive hothead at the beginning of the story to a chastened and rapidly maturing young man. But will these principled men be able to save Emma from a clearly ruthless murderer who will do anything to obtain the document Emma carries? show less

Yet another enjoyable Brother Cadfael mystery. I am beginning to notice a pattern though How many times in a small medieval town can Brother Cadfael stumble into a murder mystery? How many times can a handsome young man and beautiful young woman be brought to their mutual destiny as a result of Cadfael solving the crime? I’ll keep reading and enjoying these books, but I’d like to see Cadfael use his mind to untangle a mystery other than a murder.

About as gently soothing as a book involving multiple murders can be. You know exactly what you're getting with a Cadfael book—a little twelfth-century monastic sleuthing, smart women, impetuous young men with their heart in the right place, etc—and St. Peter's Fair delivers.

The approach of the annual St. Peter's Fair reveals tensions between the town and the abbey of Shrewsbury. One year after the castle was under siege in the war for the throne between Stephen and Maud, the town is still repairing its infrastructure. The local merchants are worried about the economic difficulties that the festival will create, as they will lose trade to visiting merchants while the taxes and tolls that would normally be paid to the town will, by charter, be paid to the abbey for the three days of the festival. When the body of a prominent Bristol merchant is discovered on opening day, sheriff Hugh Beringar welcomes Brother Cadfael's assistance in investigating the murder. Was the motive political or personal? Does the show more dead merchant's niece know more than she has shared with Cadfael and Beringar, and could this knowledge put her in danger?

Coincidentally, St. Peter's Fair was held on the first three days of August, and I listened to the book during the same time frame. I love it when that happens! It's one year since the events of One Corpse Too Many, and those events are referred to several times in the book. I loved the interaction between Brother Cadfael and Hugh Beringar in One Corpse Too Many, and I was glad that Hugh had a larger role in this book than he's had in several of the other books I've read in this series. He and Cadfael make a good team. I also enjoy the mentoring relationship between Cadfael and his young assistant, Brother Mark, and they share a great scene as Mark seeks Cadfael's supportive ear after the sudden death of a patient he treated in Cadfael's absence.

This has become one of my favorite mystery series. Several of the books I haven't yet read are available for audio download from my public library, and I'm looking forward to listening to several more. show less