Ellis Peters: The Dead Man's Ransom (USA 2014)

From the Publisher:
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 his heart.

By good fortune, it seems, the prisoner can be exchanged as Sheriff Prestcote's ransom. What no one expects is that good-natured Elis will be struck down by cupid's arrow. The sheriff's own daughter holds him in thrall, and she, too, is blind with passion. But regaining her father means losing her lover. The sheriff, ailing and frail, is brought to the abbey's infirmary -- where he is murdered. Suspicion falls on the prisoner, who has only his Welsh honor to gain Brother Cadfael's help. And Cadfael gives it, not knowing the truth will be a trial for his own soul.

Ellis Peters: The Dead Man's Ransom. The Ninth Chronicle of Brother Cadfael. Mysteriouspress.com / Open Road Integrated Media, ISBN: 9781497671232 (August, 2014), eBook, 8 MB (ca. 231 p.), $11.99.

Ellis Peters: The Dead Man's Ransom (USA 1997)

From the Publisher:
In February of the year of Our Lord 1141, men march home from war to Shrewsbury, but the captured Sheriff Gilbert Prestcote is not among them. Elis, a young Welsh prisoner, is, and he 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 his heart.

By good fortune, it seems, the prisoner can be exchanged as Sheriff Prestcote's ransom. What none expects is that good-natured Elis will be struck down -- by cupid's arrow. The sheriff's own daughter holds him in thrall, and she, too, is blind with passion. Now regaining her father means losing her lover. But then the sheriff, ailing and frail, is brought to the abbey's infirmary -- and murdered there. Suspicion falls on the prisoner, who has only his Welsh honor to gain Brother Cadfael's help. And Cadfael gives it, not knowing the truth will be a trial for his own soul...

"A FASCINATING CHRONICLE OF TWELFTH-CENTURY ENGLAND... WE MEET AGAIN THE CANNY BROTHER CADFAEL... PRE-DATING SHERLOCK HOLMES BY GENERATIONS." -- Los Angeles Times
"ONE OF THE SERIES' BEST." -- Chicago Sun-Times

Ellis Peters: The Dead Man's Ransom. The Ninth Chronicle of Brother Cadfael, of the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, at Shrewsbury. Mysterious Press / Warner Books, ISBN: 0446405167 (March, 1997), 275 p., $5.99.

Ellis Peters: The Dead Man's Ransom (UK 1984)

From the Publisher:
At the beginning of the twelfth century the civil war caused by the dispute between King Stephen and the Empress Maud continued to rage. In the battle of Lincoln the sheriff of Shropshire was captured, and the king himself taken prisoner by his enemies.

An exchange of valuable prisoners was arranged. The sheriff would be recovered in place of a young Welsh lordling who in turn had been captured in the course of a misguided assault on a convent.

The transaction promised to be straightforward, hedged round by traditional safeguards. But before the exchange could be completed one of the valuable prisoners was murdered.

Brother Cadfael it was whose observations proved that the man's death was not natural. And Cadfael gathered clues - very slender evidence but enough to bring a conviction of guilt if the pieces could be made to fit.

Cadael, gardener to the Benedictine monastery of St Peter and St Paul in Shrewsbury, had investigated crime before; he had become something of a detective. Here he is again called upon to prove guilt, to acquit the innocent, and to calm anc disentangle the affairs of young star-crossed lovers. As in his earlier cases he is helped by his friend, Hugh Beringer, the deputy sheriff.

It has been said of Cadfael that he 'deserves the sort of following which has been reserved for Sherlock Holmes' (Financial Times). He has been compared with Judge Dee (Daily Telegraph). Cadfael himself is delightful company. His exploits are most ingeniously constructed and he enjoys a faithful - and growing - readership.

Brother Cadfael's Benedictine abbey church, 900 years old in 1983, is appealing for funds to maintain its fabric. If you would like to support Abbey-900, write to: J. H. Moore, 2 Oak Tree Drive, Bayston Hill, Shrewsbury SY3 0LP.

Ellis Peters: The Dead Man's Ransom. The Ninth Chronicle of Brother Cadfael. London: Macmillan, 1984, ISBN: 0333364554, 189 p., £6.95.