Ellis Peters: An Excellent Mystery (USA 2021)

From the Publisher:
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 the strife between the Empress Maud and King Stephen has destroyed the town of Winchester and their priory. Now Brother Humilis, who is handsome, gaunt, and very ill, and Brother Fidelis, youthful, comely -- and totally mute -- must seek refuge at Shrewsbury. From the moment he meets them, Brother Cadfael senses something deeper than common vows binds these two good brothers. What the link is he can only guess. What it will lead to is beyond his imagining. As Brother Humilis's health fails -- and nothing can stop death's lengthening shade -- Brother Cadfael faces a poignant test of his discretion and his beliefs as he unravels a secret so great it can destroy a life, a future, and a holy order.

"Unflagging tension which builds to a swift, satisfying climax. Peters never disappoints [with] her absorbing, superbly crafted stories." -- Kirkus Reviews

Ellis Peters: An Excellent Mystery. The Eleventh Chronicle of Brother Cadfael. Mysteriouspress.com / Open Road Integrated Media, ISBN: 9781504067485 (July, 2021), 243 p., $24.99.

Ellis Peters: An Excellent Mystery (USA 2014)

From the Publisher:
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 the strife between the Empress Maud and King Stephen has destroyed the town of Winchester and their priory. Now Brother Humilis, who is handsome, gaunt, and very ill, and Brother Fidelis, youthful, comely -- and totally mute -- must seek refuge at Shrewsbury. From the moment he meets them, Brother Cadfael senses something deeper than common vows binds these two good brothers. What the link is he can only guess. What it will lead to is beyond his imagining. As Brother Humilis's health fails -- and nothing can stop death's lengthening shade -- Brother Cadfael faces a poignant test of his discretion and his beliefs as he unravels a secret so great it can destroy a life, a future, and a holy order.

"Unflagging tension which builds to a swift, satisfying climax. Peters never disappoints [with] her absorbing, superbly crafted stories." -- Kirkus Reviews

Ellis Peters: An Excellent Mystery. The Eleventh Chronicle of Brother Cadfael. Mysteriouspress.com / Open Road Integrated Media, ISBN: 9781497671355 (August, 2014), eBook, 8 MB (ca. 243 p.), $11.99.

Ellis Peters: An Excellent Mystery (USA 1997)

From the Publisher:
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 the strife between the Empress Maud and King Stephen has destroyed the town of Winchester and their priory. Now Brother Humilis, who is handsome, gaunt, and very ill, and Brother Fidelis, youthful, comely -- and totally mute -- must seek refuge at Shrewsbury. And from the moment he meets them, Brother Cadfael senses something deeper than their common vows binds these two good brothers. What the link is he can only guess what it will lead to is beyond his imagining. But as Brother Humilis's health fails -- and nothing can stop death's lengthening shade -- Brother Cadfael faces a poignant test of his discretion and his beliefs as he unravels a secret so great it can destroy a life, a future, and a holy order.

"ABSORBING, SUPERBLY CRAFTED... UNFLAGGING TENSION WHICH BUILDS TO A SWIFT, SATISFYING CLIMAX... PETERS NEVER DISAPPOINTS." -- Kirkus Reviews
"EACH ADDITION TO THE SERIES IS A JOY." -- USA Today

Ellis Peters: An Excellent Mystery. The Eleventh Chronicle of Brother Cadfael, of the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul at Shrewsbury. The Mysterious Press / Warner Books, ISBN: 0446405329 (October, 1997), 214 p., $5.99.

Ellis Peters: An Excellent Mystery (UK 1992)

From the Publisher:
In 1141 England is still torn by the civil strife caused by the struggle for the throne between King Stephen and the Empress Maud. Among the victims of the carnage is the Abbey of Hyde Meade, totally destroyed. Its brothers are scattered far and wide. Two seek refuge in Shrewsbury: Brother Humilis, who has abandoned his intended marriage and entered the cloister after crippling injuries received on the Crusade; and the mute Fidelis, his devoted attendant. All is well until Nicholas, once Humilis' squire, resolves to pay court on his own account to the girl who was his lord's affianced bride, and comes to ask his blessing on the suit. Then a latent tragedy becomes a present reality, and only the ever indefatigable Brother Cadfael can distinguish between the innocent, the guilty and the victims foredoomed by the demands of honour, love, and Fate.

ELLIS PETERS, RECIPIENT OF THE CRIME WRITERS' ASSOCIATION/CARTIER DIAMOND DAGGER AWARD
And don't miss other titles from the Chronicles of Brother Cadfael also available from Warner Futura - see inside for details.

Ellis Peters: An Excellent Mystery. The Cadfael Chronicles X!. London: Warner Futura, 1992, ISBN: 0751511110, 253 p., £4.99.

Ellis Peters: An Excellent Mystery (USA 1987)

From the Publisher:
"IF YOU HAVEN'T READ ONE OF PETERS'S WARM, WITTY, SPLENDIDLY CRAFTED WHODUNITS... HERE'S A GOOD PLACE TO START!" -- The Chicago Sun-Times

Their own abbey in Winchester burned to the ground, Brothers Humilis and Fidelis come to Brother Cadfael's abbey seeking refuge. Before his tonsure, Humilis was a brave Crusader, and received a dreadful wound fighting to save Jerusalem. His long ride has caused the wound to open anew.

Meanwhile Nicholas Harnage, Humilis's former lieutenant, comes to beg Humilis's permission to marry Julian Cruce, the woman Humilis released from their betrothal when he returned, injured, from the Holy Land. Humilis has no objections, but all is not well: Julian, who left for a nunnery with valuable church plate and jewelry when Humilis released her, disappeared before she could ever take her vows, and no one now can say what happened to the beautiful girl...

AN EXCELLENT MYSTERY
"Pure pleasure... Peters's stories can be said to have everything-colorful monks, touching young love, marvelous atmosphere, a fascinating and complex detective, and, most important of all, ingenious puzzles." -- Andrew M. Greeley, The Armchair Detective

Ellis Peters: An Excellent Mystery. The Eleventh Chronicle of Brother Cadfael. Fawcett Crest / Ballantine, ISBN: 0449212246 (August, 1987), 214 p., $2.95.

Ellis Peters: An Excellent Mystery (UK 1986)

From the Publisher:
In 1141 England is still torn by the civil strife caused by the struggle for the throne between King Stephen and the Empress Maud. Among the victims of the carnage is the Abbey of Hyde Meade, totally destroyed. Its brothers are scattered far and wide. Two seek refuge in Shrewsbury: Brother Humilis, who has abandoned his intended marriage and entered the cloister after crippling injuries received on Crusade; and the mute Fidelis, his devoted attendant. All is well until Nicholas, once Humilis squire, resolves to pay court on his own account to the girl who was his lord's affianced bride, and comes to ask his blessing on the suit. Then a latent tragedy becomes a present reality, and only the ever indefatigable Brother Cadfael can distinguish between the innocent, the guilty - and the victims foredoomed by the demands of honour, love, and Fate.

"Brother Cadfael must surely become a cult figure of crime fiction." -- Financial Times

Ellis Peters: An Excellent Mystery. The Eleventh Cadfael Mystery. A Medieval Whodunnit. London: Futura, 1986, ISBN: 0708828671, 190 p., £1.95.

Ellis Peters: An Excellent Mystery (UK 1985)

From the Publisher:
In 1141 England is still torn by the civil strife caused by the struggle for the throne between King Stephen and the Empress Maud. Attack and counter-attack have left much of the city of Winchester in ashes, and the total destruction of the Abbey of Hyde Mead has caused the dispersion of the brothers among other Benedictine houses, wherever they can find shelter. Two of them seek refuge in Shrewsbury. The elder, Brother Humilis, has abandoned his intended marriage and entered the cloister because of crippling injuries received in the Crusade, and the state of his health soon brings him into close contact and mutual respect with Brother Cadfael, gardener and herbalist and apothecary to the Abbey. The younger newcomer is his companion's devoted attendant and friend, the mute Fidelis.

Cadfael is a man with wide experience of the world in his early life, who has now settled in contentment within the disciplines of the Benedictine Order. His friendship with Hugh Beringar, the young sheriff of the shire, has involved him several times in complex human affairs, and turned him into something of a detective in his own field.

This time the mystery presented to him to solve is an unusual one, and evolves only gradually, when Humilis squire, Nicholas, resolves to pay court on his own account to the girl who was his lord's affianced bride, and comes to ask his blessing on the suit.

This fascinating new addition to the canon of Cadfael's investigations may well be called a 'romance' but can scarcely be called a 'roman policier'. It is a tour-de-force all on its own, persuasive, authentic, moving, compulsive.

Ellis Peters's series of novels set in the early twelfth century in Shrewsbury have won mounting recognition and success. Brother Cadfael has been compared with the greatest fictional detectives, but it is as a man as much as a detective that we delight in his company.

Ellis Peters: An Excellent Mystery. The Eleventh Chronicle of Brother Cadfael. London: Macmillan, 1985, ISBN: 0333393139, 190 p., £7.50.