DescriptionDuring the plowing of the Potter's Field in October 1143, the grisly remains of a woman's body are unearthed. The tenant potter had only recently left there to become a monk at the Benedictine Abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul and had abandoned his wife after fifteen years of marriage. Rumor had it that the wild, beautiful Welsh woman had returned to her homeland, perhaps with a lover. Who could tell? But the discovery of the corpse on Abbey land raises all sorts of questions, and one that impels Brother Cadfael to leave the tranquility of the herbiary in order to piece together some cryptic clues and solve a baffling crime.
DescriptionChristmas, 1141 A.D. Abbot Radulfus returns from London, bringing with him a priest for the vacant living of Holy Cross (known as the Foregate), a man of presence, scholarship, and discipline, but neither humility nor the common touch. When he is found drowned in the mill-pond, suspicion is cast in many directions, not least towards a young man who came in the priest's train, sent to work in Brother Cadfael's garden. For he has little obvious priestly calling. Indeed, he soon attracts the friendship of a girl both beautiful and formidable. To Brother Cadfael, once worldly, now dedicated, there lies ahead the task of sorting out the delicate strands which define guilt and innocence.
DescriptionPilgrims are gathering from far and wide to celebrate the fourth anniversary of the translation of Saint Winifred's bones to the Benedictine Abbey at Shrewsbury. In distant Winchester, a knight, supporter of the Empress Maud, has been murdered, not apparently an event of importance to those seeking miraculous cures at the saint's shrine. But among the throng some strange customers indeed begin to puzzle Brother Cadfael.
DescriptionAfter a mild autumn, the December of 1142 brings a smothering, silent blanket of snow. Thus it comes about that the guest hall of the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul is damaged, and the brothers must repair its roof before the danger worsens. The treacherously icy conditions are to prove near-fatal for Brother Haluin. He slips from the roof in a terrible fall, sustaining such grave injuries that he makes his deathbed confession to the Abbot and Brother Cadfael. A startling story of trespasses hard for God or man to forgive emerges. But Haluin does not die. On his recovery, he sets out on a journey of expiation, with Cadfael as his sole companion. An arduous trip, it leads to some shocking discoveries...and to murder.
