Ellis Peters

From the Edgar Award–winning author: When a troubled novice is blamed for a priest's disappearance, Brother Cadfael seeks to save his soul—and his life.
Outside the pale of the Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, in September of 1140, a priestly emissary for King Stephen has been reported missing. But inside the pale, what troubles Brother Cadfael is a proud, secretive nineteen-year-old novice.

Brother...

In this "enchanting" historical mystery, "medieval England comes marvelously alive" as Brother Cadfael investigates a woman's baffling disappearance (The Washington Post).

In the year of our Lord 1141, August comes in golden as a lion, and two monks ride into the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul bringing with them disturbing news of war—and a mystery.

The strangers tell how...

Charges of heresy and murder are complicated by the contents of a mysterious treasure chest
In the summer of 1143, William of Lythwood arrives at the Benedictine Abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul, but it is not a joyous occasion—he's come back from his pilgrimage in a coffin. William's body is accompanied by his young attendant Elave, whose mission is to secure a burial place for his master on the abbey grounds, despite William's having...

The medieval monk digs for clues when a body is unearthed by a plow: "His detecting talents are as dazzling as ever" (Publishers Weekly).
When a newly plowed field recently given to the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul yields the body of a young woman, Brother Cadfael is quickly thrown into a delicate situation. The field was once owned by a local potter named Ruald, who had abandoned his beautiful wife, Generys,...

Brother Cadfael discovers a murder amid the wreckage of Shrewsbury Castle in this mystery series featuring "a colorful and authentic medieval background" (Publishers Weekly).
In the summer of 1138, war between King Stephen and the Empress Maud takes Brother Cadfael from the quiet world of his garden into a battlefield of passions, deceptions, and death. Not far from the safety of the abbey walls, Shrewsbury Castle falls, leaving...

A monk's journey of amends leads to murder in this "thoroughly entertaining medieval mystery" in the Silver Dagger Award–winning series (Publishers Weekly).
Winter arrived early in 1142, bringing with it a heavy snowfall. The safety of the guest-hall roof at the Benedictine Abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul comes into jeopardy, and the brothers are called upon to effect repairs. But the icy and treacherous conditions are to...

"Bodies and red herrings pile up in a satisfying way" in the Silver Dagger Award–winning medieval mystery series starring Brother Cadfael (Library Journal).
The year is 1142, and England is in the grip of civil war. Within the cloisters of the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, there begins a chain of events no less momentous than the upheavals of the outside world.

It starts with the sad demise...

Silver Dagger Award Winner: In this medieval mystery, Brother Cadfael faces suspicion when one of his herbal ingredients is used to kill a man.
Gervase Bonel is a guest of Shrewsbury Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul when he suddenly takes ill. Luckily, the abbey boasts the services of the clever and kindly Brother Cadfael, a skilled herbalist. Cadfael hurries to the man's bedside, only to be confronted with two surprises: In Master...

In the twelfth century, merchants gather at a summertime fair—but when one of them is found dead in a river, a crime-solving monk must step in.
St. Peter's Fair is a grand, festive event, attracting merchants from across England and beyond. There is a pause in the civil war racking the country in the summer of 1139, and the fair promises to bring some much-needed gaiety to the town of Shrewsbury—until the body of a wealthy...

Brother Cadfael must intervene when a prisoner exchange is interrupted by love and murder, in the Silver Dagger Award–winning medieval mystery series.
In February of 1141, men march home from war to Shrewsbury, but the captured sheriff Gilbert Prestcote is not among them. Elis, a young Welsh prisoner, is delivered to the Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul to begin a tale that will test Brother Cadfael's sense of justice—and...