From Publishers Weekly
The 19th Brother Cadfael mystery. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From School Library Journal
YA-- Monks from another abbey and a troubadour and his servants are visiting the abbey in Shrewbury when the bones of St. Winifred, its patron saint, are stolen. Brother Cadfael must locate them before a long-held secret is revealed about them that would be embarrassing for him. Then the murders begin . . . . This medieval mystery series continues as Brother Cadfael identifies and pursues each clue in this unusual and entertaining story. Precise words accurately describe the period, and they can usually be understood in context. It will be easy for teens to like the clerical sleuth because of his delightful charm and keen wit. Although religious, he is not sanctimonious.- Claudia Moore, W. T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VACopyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From AudioFile
Paul Scofield sounds like a 12th-century monk--learned, formal and out of this world. He brings a very medieval interpretation to Brother Cadfael and the host of priors and abbots. Scofield reads slowly with a rich, melodic tone. The narration complements the story. Cadfael's voice, refined and resolute, has a beneficent tone. The web of the story may not be easy to follow except for experienced Cadfael fans. Here the monk tries to uncover the reasons for the theft of a holy relic and the murder of a young man. The unfamiliar names, titles and relationships are not for novices. The abridgment moves through the story quickly compounding the puzzle. R.F.W. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine


From Kirkus Reviews
In 1144, the Benedictine Abbey at Shrewsbury, home of herbalist-humanist-sleuth Brother Cadfael (The Summer of the Danes, etc.), has extended its hospitality to Brother Herluin and his novice attendant Brother Tutilo--both soliciting help for the ravaged Abbey at Ramsey, many miles away, left in shambles by the marauding forces of the Earl of Essex, now vanquished. Soon, they've collected alms, timber, and some willing workmen. Handsome young Tutilo has also used his beautiful voice to soothe the dying Lady Donata and has attracted the interest of the slave girl singer who's traveling with French troubadour Remy and his servant B‚nezet. As Tutilo's little band gets ready for the trip back to Ramsey, heavy rains put the Church's treasures in danger. All hands work to move them to higher ground. Only after the Ramsey group has left is it discovered that the reliquary of St. Winifred has disappeared. Its eventual reappearance and the confession of the thief pale next to the dramatic and tragic events that follow. Through it all, to the satisfying finale, Cadfael remains his benign, intuitive, appealing self. The pace sometimes slows to a near standstill; the elegant prose is sometimes excessive--but, for the patient, the reward is finely wrought transport to another time. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

At the height of the hot summer of 1144, a lucky hit by one of King Stephen's archers rids the Fen country of Geoffrey de Mandeville, Earl of Essex, who has amassed his castles and gold by robbing rich and poor alike. Thus, the Benedictine abbey at Ramsey, long used as a den for Geoffrey's raggle-taggle marauders, is returned in a thoroughly ruined state to the good brothers of that order. The news comes to Brother Cadfael or the Abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul in Shrewsbury in the person of the dour, raw-boned Brother Herluin who is soliciting funds and aid to restore Ramsey Abbey to its former splendor. Of much more interest to Cadfael is Herluin's companion, Brother Tutilo, a slightly built lad with a guileless face surrounded by a profusion of brown curls. But Brother Cadfael, long a shrewd judge of character, notes on that brow an intelligence that bespeaks more of mischief than innocence, and he muses that this Brother Tutilo bears watching. The arrival of a French troubadour, his servant, and a girl with the voice of an angel gives Cadfael a feeling in his wise bones that something is about to happen. It does. The late autumn rains bring flood waters right to the altar where the abbey's most precious possession reposes - the bones of Saint Winifred. Only Brother Cadfael knows that moving the holy relic can expose a long hidden secret. He never envisions that the results of disinterment will be the theft of the cherished bones...and murder. Suspicion quickly falls on a guilty-looking Brother Tutilo. But did he do it?

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Less predictable and far more complex than many of the 18 previous Brother Cadfael chronicles, this 12th-century mystery pits the sacred against the secular, and cleric against cleric. A sub-prior and his young novice appeal to the abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul in Shrewsbury for aid in rebuilding their own monastery at Ramsey, which had been defiled by outlaws. Craftsmen, building materials and even jewelry are gladly given and are to be transported to Ramsey. The promise of spring floods makes haste imperative, and in the confusion another item is slipped aboard the cart: the casket containing the remains of St. Winifred, Shrewsbury's revered patron saint. The Shrewsbury monks grieve over its loss, and the faction at Ramsey sorely covets it. When the one person who could identify the sacrilegious thief is murdered, Sheriff Hugh Beringar is summoned and Cadfael's special skills are put to the test. Cadfael--a herbalist, matchmaker, detective and medical examiner--must now be a psychologist as well, soothing egos, calming nerves and finding a killer. Twelfth-century Shropshire comes vividly alive when peopled with Peters's aristocratic ladies, sturdy lawmen, eager squires and, above all, devout--and devious--monks. (Mar.)

School Library Journal

YA-- Monks from another abbey and a troubadour and his servants are visiting the abbey in Shrewbury when the bones of St. Winifred, its patron saint, are stolen. Brother Cadfael must locate them before a long-held secret is revealed about them that would be embarrassing for him. Then the murders begin . . . . This medieval mystery series continues as Brother Cadfael identifies and pursues each clue in this unusual and entertaining story. Precise words accurately describe the period, and they can usually be understood in context. It will be easy for teens to like the clerical sleuth because of his delightful charm and keen wit. Although religious, he is not sanctimonious.-- Claudia Moore, W. T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VA

BookList - Margaret Flanagan