197 pages
English language
Published Nov. 5, 1994 by Warner Books.
In the 12th-century Benedictine monastery of Shrewsbury, Brother Cadfael has settled down to a quiet life in charge of the herbarium. It is fortunate his prowess as a herbalist is matched by his detective skills - when his prior acquires the bones of a saint, the obstacles include murder.
The first outing for medieval mystery monk Brother Cadfael has everything: religious tensions, vying vendettas, and a murder that can only be solved in a truly bizarre fashion.
In this first chronicle of Brother Cadfael, the medieval monk and amateur sleuth, Peters takes us along as the Benedictine brothers travel to a small Welsh village in order to claim the relics of a neglected saint as their own. But when the community's most outspoken opponent of the relocation is murdered, Cadfael sets out to discover the killer and ends up becoming involved in the miracles attendant upon the saint. A wonderful, short mystery that has become a classic in the genre. The television adaptation starring Derek Jacobi is also highly recommended.
