A review by judyward
The Hermit of Eyton Forest by Ellis Peters

4.0

The fourteenth in the Brother Cadfael series set in Shewsbury, England during the 12th century. Ten year old Richard Ludel has been entrusted to the care of Prior of the Benedictine Abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul by his father both for his protection and his education. Upon his father's death, Richard inherits a large estate and his formidable grandmother, the Lady Dionisia, wants to marry Richard to his much older neighbor's daughter--she is 22--in order to eventually get control of their land. Lady Dionisia has also given refuge to a holy man, Cuthred and his helper Hyacinth, newly arrived in the area and installed him into a hermit's cell in the forest where Cuthred quickly establishes himself as a wise and devout priest. And then Richard disappears from the abbey and two men are murdered and Brother Cadfael has to utilize all of his healing and investigating talents before calm is restored.