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bowienerd_82's review against another edition
3.0
Another pleasant but unremarkable outing for Brother Cadfael. I wasn’t particularly attached to any of the one-off characters this time around, but it made for decent plane reading.
devafagan's review against another edition
[re-read 2013]
Strange how a murder mystery can be comforting! I quite enjoy the mysteries in this volume -- and especially the interactions between Richard and Hiltrude, and between Cadfael and Rafe. Also the growing sense that Cadfael is aware his actions are perhaps not in keeping with his vows, giving a bit of a sense of the overall series arc.
Strange how a murder mystery can be comforting! I quite enjoy the mysteries in this volume -- and especially the interactions between Richard and Hiltrude, and between Cadfael and Rafe. Also the growing sense that Cadfael is aware his actions are perhaps not in keeping with his vows, giving a bit of a sense of the overall series arc.
doriastories's review against another edition
5.0
I just love these books, they are like candy to read! This one had a fun and multilayered plot, political and personal, very cleverly intertwined. The historical background continues to develop and make itself felt, through the individual twisting a of fate. I'm not usually a mystery reader, but these Brother Cadfael books are great fun.
bob_muller's review against another edition
3.0
Parts of this entry in the Cadfael chronicles are very good, but the narrative point of view bounces all over the place because of the requirements of the plot, which depends on a huge revelation at the end for its mystery and suspense. Peters jumps through all kinds of hoops to (unsuccessfully) hide the "mystery" of this revelation to maintain the suspense of the rescue part of the novel. I was left feeling very manipulated in one way and exasperated in another, as it seemed perfectly obvious to me what was going on by three-quarters of the way through the book, so the rest of it just came across as inept writing, something you don't see a lot of in Peters' work. So--not my favorite Cadfael novel.
margardenlady's review against another edition
5.0
Cadfael is dragged into a murder investigation and manhunt in this tale. Richard is a youth at the abbey school, when his father dies. His grandmother is hellbent on marrying this 10 year old off to the slightly older daughter of a neighboring property, in order to secure the property as part of her estate. And in the blink of an eye, visitors to the abbey go missing and one is found dead. Then the boy is also missing. Hugh has his hands full to get it all sorted appropriately.
ericwelch's review against another edition
4.0
Peters, nom de plume of Edith Pargeter, and also author of the Inspector Felse series, as well as some other historical novels, situates the Brother Cadfael series during the anarchic times of King Stephen in the early twelfth century.
Cadfael is a monk at the Benedictine Abbey of Shrewsbury. He came to the cowl rather late, after service in the crusades, so he often takes a more worldly and practical approach to solving riddles than his fellow monks. He and his friend, Hugh Beringer, the under-sheriff, work together to solve murders, of which there seem to be plenty. The victim in this novel is Richard, elevenyear- old son of a wealthy lord who dies and leaves all his property to Richard. Richard was being schooled at the abbey, and despite entreaties from the boy’s grandmother to return him to her, the abbot refuses, citing the importance of Richard’s father’s wish that the boy receive a good education. The grandmother, the lady Dionysia, wants Richard’s return so she can marry him off to an old woman (she’s twenty-two) and gain ownership of some contiguous lands. Richard, certainly sly for his age, watches bemused, but disappears in the forest following a series of mishaps predicted by a hermit, reputed to be holy, who has the ear of Lady Dionysia. Nothing is as it appears.
Soon Cadfael is forced to keep a secret from Hugh, something he is rarely called upon to do, in order to protect the lives of two others, one a murderer, the other, an escaped vassal. Typically, before the solution is discovered, the forest is littered with the bodies of murdered men. This is a good one.
Cadfael is a monk at the Benedictine Abbey of Shrewsbury. He came to the cowl rather late, after service in the crusades, so he often takes a more worldly and practical approach to solving riddles than his fellow monks. He and his friend, Hugh Beringer, the under-sheriff, work together to solve murders, of which there seem to be plenty. The victim in this novel is Richard, elevenyear- old son of a wealthy lord who dies and leaves all his property to Richard. Richard was being schooled at the abbey, and despite entreaties from the boy’s grandmother to return him to her, the abbot refuses, citing the importance of Richard’s father’s wish that the boy receive a good education. The grandmother, the lady Dionysia, wants Richard’s return so she can marry him off to an old woman (she’s twenty-two) and gain ownership of some contiguous lands. Richard, certainly sly for his age, watches bemused, but disappears in the forest following a series of mishaps predicted by a hermit, reputed to be holy, who has the ear of Lady Dionysia. Nothing is as it appears.
Soon Cadfael is forced to keep a secret from Hugh, something he is rarely called upon to do, in order to protect the lives of two others, one a murderer, the other, an escaped vassal. Typically, before the solution is discovered, the forest is littered with the bodies of murdered men. This is a good one.