Showing results by author "Ellis Peters" in All Categories

The winter of 1139 will disrupt Brother Cadfael's tranquil life in Shrewsbury with the most disturbing events. Raging civil war has sent refugees fleeing north from Worcester. Among them are two orphans from a noble family, a boy of thirteen and an 18-year-old girl of great beauty, and their companion, a young Benedictine nun...

Alfred Armiger was like a bull in the ring, belligerent and sure of himself. But Armiger was mortal after all. There was no stronger proof of it than the blood that oozed from his skull, mingling with the red wine he'd spilled on the floor at the moment of impact.

It is the Summer and Autumn of the Year of Our Lord 1143 in which the gentle monk, Brother Cadfael, is forced to leave the tranquility of his herb garden to find the whole truth behind the murder of a young women whose body was unexpectedly discovered in a newly tilled field recently acquired by the Shrewsbury Abbey in a land exchange.

This collection of recordings about Brother Cadfael—a Benedictine monk and amateur sleuth in the 12th century—are performed here by the ideal actor. Sir Derek Jacobi, who portrayed Cadfael in several television adaptations, captivates listeners with his renderings of Monk's Hood, Saint Peter's Fair, The Heretic's Apprentice, The Potter's Field, The Summer of the Danes, and Brother Cadfael's Penance.

When the castle of Shrewsbury is taken during the war between Empress Maud and King Stephen, 94 prisoners are taken, 94 are hanged. When Brother Cadfael arrives to perform the burial rites, he finds one corpse too many among the bodies stacked about the fortress.

A onetime Crusader turned Benedictine monk, Brother Cadfael is a most unusual detective. Living a quiet life as a monastery herbalist, he spends his days ministering to his brothers using the medical skills he acquired in the Holy Lands—but his worldly knowledge and wide experience of human nature are frequently called upon when there is a murder to solve....

Brother Cadfael sets out to visit the Saint Giles leper colony outside Shrewsbury, knowing that a grand wedding is due to take place at the Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. As he arrives at Saint Giles, the nuptial party passes the colony's gates. He sees the fragile bride, looking like a prisoner between her two stern guardians, and the groom, an arrogant, fleshy aristocrat old enough to be her grandfather....

In the summer of 1139, there is a pause in the civil war racking the country, and St. Peter’s Fair promises to bring some much-needed gaiety to Shrewsbury—that is, until the dead body of a wealthy merchant is found in the river Severn. Was Thomas of Bristol the victim of murderous thieves? If so, why were his valuables abandoned nearby?

In 1137 the ambitious head of Shrewsbury Abbey has decided to acquire the remains of Saint Winifred for his Benedictine order. Brother Cadfael is part of the expedition sent to her final resting place in Wales, where they find the villagers passionately divided by the Benedictines' offer for the saint's relics. Canny, wise and all too worldly, Cadfael isn't surprised when this taste for bones leads to bloody murder. The leading opponent to moving the grave has been shot dead with a mysterious arrow, and some say Winifred herself dealt the blow.

Outside the pale of the Abbey of Saint Peters and Saint Paul, in September of the year of our Lord 1140, a priestly emissary for King Stephen has been reported missing. But inside the pale, what troubles Brother Cadfael is a proud, secretive 19-year-old novice. Brother Cadfael has never seen two men more estranged than the Lord of Aspley and Meriet, the son he coldly delivers to the abbey to begin a religious vocation. Meriet, meek by day, is so racked by dreams at night that his howls earn him the nickname the Devil's Novice. Shunned and feared, Meriet is soon linked to the missing priest's dreadful fate. Only Brother Cadfael believes in Meriet's innocence, and only the good sleuth can uncover the truth before a boy's pure passion, not evil intent, leads a novice to the noose.

A wealthy widow rents her house to the Shrewsbury Abbey for the price of a single rose cut from the bush near the house. Shortly before the rent is due, the rosebush is destroyed and the widow kidnapped. Brother Cadfael must discover who stands to gain from these peculiar crimes.

For centuries the Celts held sway in Europe. Even after their conquest by the Romans, their culture remained vigorous, ensuring that much of it endured to feed an endless fascination with Celtic history and myths, artwork and treasures. A foremost authority on the Celtic peoples and their culture, Peter Berresford Ellis presents an invigoration overview of their world. With his gift for making the scholarly accessible, he discusses the Celts' mysterious origins and early history and investigates their rich and complex society.

Civil war continues to blaze in the autumn of 1139. Amid the uncertainty and peril of the moment two noble children make their escape, headed for Shrewsbury. But for reasons no one knows, the young fugitives never reach their destination.

It is nearing the end of the Year of Our Lord 1145. A monk vows to abandon all earthly ties, but how can Brother Cadfael obey when his son is captured in battle? Olivier de Bretagne is one of many young knights taken prisoner in the current power dispute in Britain, but he is also Cadfael's son, and the monk cannot be objective. A council is planned at Coventry to try to appease the warring factions, and Brother Cadfael asks leave to attend, knowing he must do all in his power to find and deliver his son.

Meriet Aspley, a young novitiate, causes havoc at the Shrewsbury monastery when his violent nightmares cause him to scream his anguish in the dead of night, earning him the nickname, Devil's Novice.

After years of studying with the Bishop, young Father Ailnoth has come to take over the parish of Holy Cross. But soon Ailnoth's true nature surfaces - harsh, cold-hearted, and merciless - and someone lures him from his home and murders him. Who in Shrewsbury would kill a priest on Christmas Day?

In the middle of the abbey's evening services, an angry mob pursues a young boy into the sacred peace of the sanctuary. Terrified and in tatters, he clutches at the altar-cloth, grasping for mercy in the only sure place he might find it. He is accused of robbery and murder, but Cadfael senses his innocence and sets out to prove it.

In summer of 1144, a strange calm has settled over England. The armies of King Stephen and Empress Maudhave temporarily exhausted each other. Brother Cadfael, herbalist-sleuth of Shrewsbury's Benedictine Abbey, agrees to accompany wise young Brother Mark on Church business in Wales. But the brothers soon find themselves caught up in yet another feud. A Welsh prince has banished his brother, accusing him of the treacherous murder of an ally, and the country teeters on the brink of civil war. Cadfael has to survive the brotherly quarrel that could plunge an entire kingdom into chaos.

A mysterious pair of monks, whose abbey has burned down, have come to Shrewbury seeking refuge. Their story is tragic, and Cadfael quickly senses, riddled with half-truths. What dark secret are these strange monks hiding?

Shortly after he inherits the powerful position of Lord of Eaton, 10-year-old Richard Ludel disappears from Shrewsbury Abbey, where he had been a student. Did he run away or was he kidnapped? Brother Cadfael suspects the hermit of Eyton Forest, a mysterious man rumored to have holy powers, knows the answer.