The Heretic's Apprentice

Chronicles of Brother Cadfael #16

by Ellis Peters

Charges of heresy and murder are complicated by the contents of a mysterious treasure chestIn 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 once been reprimanded for heretical views. An already difficult task is complicated when Elave drunkenly expresses his own heretical opinions, and capital charges are filed. When a violent death follows, Sheriff Hugh Beringar taps his friend Brother Cadfael for help. The mystery that unfolds grows deeper thanks to a mysterious and marvelous treasure chest in Elave’s care. 

Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Medieval, Historical Mystery, Crime

198 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 1989

About the author

A pseudonym used by Edith Pargeter.

Edith Mary Pargeter, OBE, BEM was a prolific author of works in many categories, especially history and historical fiction, and was also honoured for her translations of Czech classics; she is probably best known for her murder mysteries, both historical and modern. Born in the village of Horsehay (Shropshire, England), she had Welsh ancestry, and many of her short stories and books (both fictional and non-fictional) were set in Wales and its borderlands.

During World War II, she worked in an administrative role in the Women's Royal Naval Service, and received the British Empire Medal - BEM.

Pargeter wrote under a number of pseudonyms; it was under the name Ellis Peters that she wrote the highly popular series of Brother Cadfael medieval mysteries, many of which were made into films for television.

Reviews

[Chrissie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is good. I like it, particularly the ending, where the message is conveyed. Money and things mean nothing. It is people and our relationships with them that are important.

However, the story is too short for me to give it more than three stars. You don’t sink into it and escape into another world. The reader spends too little time with the series’ tried-and-true characters one has come to love.

A crime is to be solved and a love affair ensues. That is the story in just a few words.

Derek Jacobi narrates the audiobook. In my opinion, he is too full-of-himself. You can almost hear him thinking—look at me, my narration is so very good. His enunciation of names is not sufficiently distinct. Even after having decreased the speed to 90%, I had trouble distinguishing between the names! Sure, you get the story, but I want to hear every detail, ever word. Two stars is as high as I can go for the narration. Two stars means the narration is OK. I should mention that Jacobi is a Tony award-winning actor. This doesn’t mean I have to love his narrations. Maybe you’ll like it better than me.

Short story, short review. I have told you the most essential.

*********************

In Book Order and availability:
*A Morbid Taste for Bones 3 stars
*One Corpse Too Many 5 stars
*Monk's Hood 4 stars
*St. Peter's Fair 4 stars
*The Leper of St. Giles 5 stars
*The Virgin in the Ice 3 stars
*The Sanctuary Sparrow 4 stars
*The Devil's Novice 3 stars
*Dead Man's Ransom
*The Pilgrim of Hate
*An Excellent Mystery
*The Raven in the Foregate (12) TBR
*The Rose Rent
*The Hermit of Eyton Forest
*The Confession of Brother Haluin
*The Heretic's Apprentice (16) 3 stars
*The Potter's Field (17) TBR
*Brother Cadfael's Penance (20) TBR

[Barb in Maryland · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the better entries in this long running series.
We are back in Shrewsbury, among old friends, in this story. Peters adds theology to the mix of murder mystery and romance, when our young hero is denounced for heresy as well as being the main suspect when his denouncer turns up dead.
One of the pleasures of this story was the look at church politics in play. There's a high ranking Canon, a hard-liner on heresy, who is visiting the Abbey. He's all for condemning young Elave at once. Not so fast, says the good Abbot Radulfus, this is my turf, I say we send for the Bishop. In the meantime, we will keep him here. I really appreciated Radulfus getting a bit of the limelight in this book. He is so often just a benevolent background character. We are also treated to Prior Robert sucking up to the Canon; Robert's faithful stooge, Brother Jerome, even has a pivotal scene.

Of course it is Cadfael who finds the murder victim; he quickly brings in Sheriff Hugh Beringar to lead the search for the murderer. The 'whodunnit' wasn't that hard to figure out, the 'why' of the crime was trickier. The climax is both very exciting and tragic. The final resolution of Elave's heresy case is very satisfying, as is the revelation of the murderer's motive. We end on a quiet note of peace and grace. Ah, happy book sigh from this reader.

[Deb Omnivorous Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the latest of the chronicles I have read (quite out of order, as they come to hand) and I enjoyed the gentle pace, lovely writing and elegant mystery as much as I enjoyed all the others.

There is something comforting and addictive about following brother Cadfael through the little mysteries of the twelfth century and of encountering well written descriptions of historic life along the way. In this book it was the process of Vellum making that the author showed us, I knew little enough about it before and enjoyed that portion of the story. The mystery element involves a dowry brought back to the family by the servant of a master who died on pilgrimage to the holy land. As well as this dowry the servant brings his master's coffin as he wished to be buried in the abbey's grounds. When a visitor to the abbey accuses the master of heresy the burial comes into doubt and next thing we know a body pops up for no reason that makes sense.

Did the murder involve the dowry or the heresy? Who but brother Cadfael can discover the truth?

It all sounds very placid and gentle doesn't it? It is, but it is a lovely, easy reading experience and I always come to a new book in this series with pleasure, also, the endings are beautifully rounded and satisfactory.

[Toralf Saffer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ein teils sehr schwülstiger, recht naiv erzählter historischer Krimi mit ein paar interessanten geschichtlichen Hintergrundinformationen und spannenden Momenten.

[Tijana]

U "Jeretikovom šegrtu" se vrlo lepo vidi kako jedan autor može od cele knjige da napravi jedan veliki omaž drugome, a da ipak ostane svoj i u svojim jasno omeđenim okvirima. Elis Piters je ovde u znak naklonosti i poštovanja preuzela sve ključne motive iz "Imena ruže" - i jeres, i strast prema tajanstvenoj knjizi koja vodi čak u zločin, pa i požar koji funkcioniše kao deus ex machina. A opet ovo nije slepa imitacija koja bi, priznajemo, bila neopravdano ambiciozna, već tipičan roman o bratu Kadfaelu, skroman, ljubak, zatvoren u svoj mali udobni krug lako razrešive zagonetke. Srednji vek nikad nije bio ovako komotan.

[Karin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I couldn't remembered what I'd rated this the last time I read it, but I'm still rounding this up to 4 stars. I'd forgotten just how much I enjoyed some of the "guest" characters in this book and how well done the red herrings were. In addition there was some interesting, at least for me, dialogue concerning questions of doctrine that were arising then, as always, since I'm not Catholic--heretic isn't in the title for nothing, but of course there is also a murder in the book that may or may not have anything to do with this directly and much of this book is devoted to finding out who the murderer was.

Another entry in the Brother Cadfael mysteries, and I enjoyed it better than I expected to, particularly given that it is # 16, so I have rounded up my 3.5 to 4.

From the back:
It is June in the Year of Our Lord 1143 when Elave, young clerk to William of Lythwood, returns from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land with his elderly master’s body. His mission is twofold, to bury William in his home abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul, and to deliver a dowry to William’s adopted daughter Fortunata. But Elave, suspected of harboring views inimical to church doctrine, is held for ecclesiastical trial. And when Aldwin, the Lythwood family clerk hired in Elave’s absence, is stabbed to death, Elave is incarcerated not only for heresy, but for murder. Fortunata’s dowry, an intricately carved box with mysterious contents, holds the key to the mysteries that spring up around Elave and the Lythwood family. Shrewd and patient, Brother Cadfael is at his best here.

Another murder mystery, but still well done and still very much the same Brother Cadfael. In addition, there are discussions in it of the political upheaval going on in England between rivals for the crown. The characters are well done, the red herrings good, and overall I have to say that I am glad I have resumed this series.

[LeahBethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading The Heretic's Apprentice, I often found myself thinking, "How nice to be back in the world of Brother Cadfael." I did feel that the characters were debating at cross-purposes toward the end of the book—something that could have been avoided by clearly defining the terms they were using. One character believed he was discussing salvation, but in reality, he was referring to sanctification, which ultimately led to his charge of heresy.

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Men are feeble, and go aside to hide their feebleness.”

Not the best of the series, but a well-developed plot which fit well into the historical setting. This edition’s medieval trade: parchment and vellum production. A new historical character, Bishop Roger de Clinton, who will figure in several forthcoming Cadfael stories.

“I have learned not to put any villainy out of the any man’s reach. Nor any goodness, either.”

Peters demonstrates her virtuosity in weaving real events, people and objects into her fictional universe, increasing both verisimilitude and enjoyment. While her outcomes are usually satisfying, this one is happy also.

“Yet we are told a tree shall be known by its fruit. Divine grace … will know where to look for a responsive human grace, without instruction from us.”

An exploration of medieval ecclesiastics. Not all witch hunts and burning of heretics, but threats to church orthodoxy and authority were real and dealt with severely. While Ellis Peters' Cadfael fiction series avoids the church bashing indulged by the British television mystery series of the same name, she identifies institutional and individual abuses.

“But if justice is to be denied to the inadequate, grudging and sad, to whom then is it due?” <?i>

Cadfael series: excellent historical fiction. Ellis Peters draws the reader into the twelfth century with modern story telling but holds us there with a richness of detail which evokes a time and place which might as well be fictional. Though the foreground of each chronicle is a murder mystery, behind it a nation and a culture (and a touch of romance) are woven into each wondrous tapestry.

[Valerie]

One of the charms of the Brother Cadfael series is the feel for routine experiences, craft methods, etc.

This book deals with a poisonous atmosphere of compulsory orthodoxy. It also gives a fairly good description of the art of making vellum.

I should say that there's one aspect of the books that has always disturbed me: the apparent authorial complicity in the pervasive societal discrimination against the nocturnal. This isn't unique to this series, but it's the more disturbing in well-written books that often question other forms of discrimination.

This volume, as several others do, begins shortly before the date (June 22, remember?) of St Winifred's 'translation'--in 1143, this time. The return of a pair of pilgrims (one coffined, since he died at about 80 on his way home in France) might have been very simple, except that the return reignites stresses that had been in abeyance while the younger pilgrim Elave (who returns alive) was absent. Elave, for example, was always a more talented clerk than the older clerk of the house, Aldwin.

There are other things that place this book more concretely in this precise time. Elave and his master, William of Lythwood, spent some time in a Cluniac monastery while William was ill. One of the other residents was Peter Abelard (yes, THAT Abelard). The canon Gerbert who has come more or less by chance to Shrewsbury Abbey is opposed to Cluniacs because he is an Augustinian, and because he has political opponents who are Cluniacs. And he also personally despises Abelard. Not very good reasons to try to destroy a young man's life. But not substantially worse than those of others, come to that.

Aldwin is a depressive type who can't really accept that people do truly love and value him, no matter how personally inadequate he may be. Fortunata says of him at one point that if justice is to be denied to the inadequate, grudging, and sad, to whom then is it due? Conan (the shepherd) sees Elave (rather more accurately) as a rival for Fortunata's hand, after Elave himself brings home a fairly substantial dowry for the lass. It never seems to occur to him that Elave had only to keep the box, which, after all, only he and William knew about. And as to whether Conan ever had a chance with Fortunata...well, it seems unlikely on the face of it.

Peters had a tendency to try to end her books with a felicity--a miracle, a wonder, a revelation. This one's a doozy. The McGuffin in the book is truly wondrous, and the description is lovingly detailed. It's worth staying around for, even if you find the resolution of the mystery more than a little harrowing (I did. Accidental or not, it was horrific).

On the other hand, I wouldn't advise just skipping on to the decorated capital at the end. If we tend to think of the dogmatic disputations in the book as something of a tempest in a teapot, and not worth ruining people's lives, or even killing them, we're right. The disputations weren't that serious, and the idea of dictatorially enforcing dogmas, and forbidding dissent, is rightly reviled. But that doesn't mean they were unimportant. The social history becomes relevant, as well. In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, Europe was becoming overcrowded, and people too crammed in together tend to inflate any dispute into a tinderbox. Ironically, these problems became less significant because of two changes--the plagues of the fourteenth century and later, and the explorations of the fifteenth century, which made it clear that the world was a lot bigger than the medieval theorists had supposed. But those leavening factors were not really available at the time of these books.

Hugh is probably wise to keep his son Giles out of the fever-prone cities, especially in the summer, which even Cadfael, who misses his godson when Giles is absent, really realizes.

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Heretic’s Apprentice

Another engaging novel and mystery in the Benedictine Brother Cadfael series. In this one, most of the action takes place right in Shrewsbury, near the monastery in the year 1143. Many of the characters that we have come to know and love are there, joined by a few newcomers to the scene, especially a young man with an engaging personality, Elave, just returning from a multi-year pilgrimage to Jerusalem with the body of his lord and master, who had died at the very end of the journey. In addition to fulfilling the last wishes of his employer, Elave finds himself brought into a discussion of tenants of faith and because of his sincerely-held views, finds himself labeled a heretic and jailed within the monastery until the Bishop can be summoned from Coventry to rule on his guilt or innocence. The several discussions of Catholic belief, as well as various descriptions as to how vellum is made, add dimension and interest to this particular tale. Of course, there is a murder and Cadfael is drawn in by the Abbot and the High Sheriff to assist in the case. As usual, Cadfael’s gentle spirit, keen perception and deductive reasoning prove invaluable. I loved this book!

[Hannah · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was sadly disappointed by this addition to the series. I think it's because it went back to the old formula which is just not a mystery for me any more. Elave (the apprentice) returns from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem with his master. Only his master is in a casket as he died on the way home. Elave is here to bury him and give some gifts to the family. OF COURSE, he meets Fortunata and they fall in love instantly.

But then Aldwin accuses him of making heretical statements. It's because he's afraid that Elave is going to steal his job. When he finds out that is not the case, he goes off to make it right. And he dies. Everyone thinks it's Elave, except Cadfael and Fortunata. So bam, we're back on the case.

I knew who the killer was because Ellis Peter doesn't have a lot of space to add a lot of characters, so it's really just a process of elimination. And...I'm going to admit it, there was skimming going on! They were just so lengthy and drawn out about the heresy subplot, which was obviously the B plot and I didn't care.

I just really didn't care for this one.

[cloudyskye · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best, not the worst of Cadfael's exploits. I'm a little baffled how many of them I have completely forgotten despite having read them all at least twice. This was one of those. But then some storylines tend to repeat themselves, I'm sure there have been several youthful and attractive suspects, wrongfully accused, who en passant found (instant) love.
How the "heresy" is dealt with, well, oversimplifying I'd say: humanism wins over the dark ages. Jesus or Biblical faith doesn't come into it, all the worse ...

[Dominic Piacentini · Rating 2 out of 5]

I believe it was Brad Pitt who once said, “What’s in the box? WHAT’S IN THE BOX?!”

I have many thoughts about the quality of this abridged version, but more on that later. This is a puzzle missing its pieces.

[Tracey · Rating 3 out of 5]

the first part was a little too preachy for my taste and not much of Cadfael, finally half-way through the mystery picked up and we got more of Cadfael, thank god :)

[Alina · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. A solid mystery with fantastic world-building and a bit of suspense at the end. Ellis Peters put a lot of research into her Brother Cadfael series. The Heretic’s Apprentice is proof that Peters knew her theology.

[Katerina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I continue with the Cadfael series and in the meanwhile I have started watching the tv series! This was one of the best books of the series!

Usually Peters avoids direct conflicts with the church, although brother Cadfael has more open views on his practice of the canon he belongs to. After all he comes in trouble with Prior Robert and brother Jerome quite often.
This book is different: it deals with compulsory orthodoxy and what is heresy. A young guy has been travelling to the rest of Europe and to Jerusalem with his master and returns to England to deliver his master's body for burial to the Abbey and a present for the adopted girl of the family as her dowry. As with everybody that lives for a while abroad, he finds the family he used to work for changed with the years. The two nephews of his master have taken over three business and run it smoothly, the adopted girl has grown to a beautiful young woman and the rest of the staff have grown used to his absence. He himself is also mature and his horizons have opened with all three new things he learnt in three journey. As a result he uses his mind to understand life and the religion, something that is considered a sin to the closed-minded old clerk and shepherd of the family. As the latter two feel menaced by the young man's presence, they use what he told them in a moment of loose tongues, to accuse him for heresy. By chance there is a higher cleric present in the Abbey, who follows strict orthodoxy and the case escalates tremendously. Especially when the old clerk is found stabbed in the back.

[J. Aleksandr Wootton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked up on a whim. The mystery amid medieval daily life events of this series would probably have better appealed to me when I was younger (at the age when I'd run through classic Hardy Boys and Encyclopedia Brown), but at that point the level of theological detail would have bogged me down. I liked the book, but I'm not quite motivated to search out others in the series, and I'm unsure to whom I would recommend them. Older readers have better options in this space (Chesterton's Father Brown stories, Eco's The Name of the Rose); preteen and middle-grade readers might not appreciate the stylized wordiness or depth of detail. Or they might! Niche books are perfect for niche readers.

[Nancy Ellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just can't bring myself to leave 12th Century England. Reading these books is like reading poetry....actually, better than most poetry. Ellis Peters had an exceptional talent for the use of the language, not an easy thing to do with English. This story was especially interesting to me, since it dealt with a young man being charged with heresy. There is so much history woven into these stories, and this one had quite a lot dealing with how the Church handled charges of heresy. Very interesting and a beautiful love story as well. Just doesn't get much better than this.

[Ingrid Verschelling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gelezen sept. 1996

[Susan in NC · Rating 3 out of 5]

I usually enjoy revisiting Cadfael’s world, for the author’s lovely writing about the natural world in his herb garden and the English countryside surrounding his abbey in Shrewsbury, and for the peace, order and comfort of the liturgical calendar followed by everyone, from bishops to the lowliest shepherd.

This book was jarring for me, with the control exerted by the 12th century Church over what was then deemed heretical thought. In this case, a young man is actually imprisoned at the abbey to await judgement by the bishop for voicing such radical notions as babies don’t come into the world tainted by original sin, and if they died unbaptized they would not be damned.

The story opens on a lovely early summer day (beautifully evoked by Peters as always) as preparations are underway for the feast of St. Winifred, the patron of the Abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul. A young man arrives with a casket; he had left 7 years earlier with his master to go on pilgrimage to Jerusalem and Compostela, and the master died on the way home. The young man has brought him back with his last request that he be laid to rest in abbey grounds, as he had been a generous benefactor and leading local resident.

A question arises about past statements the man had made that could be deemed heretical. A clergyman stranded at the abbey by an injured horse is on a diplomatic mission for King Stephen; he’s a big noise in a bishop’s household and adamant about the need to snuff out all heresy. (Honestly, I get mixed up with the different characters popping up in this series having to do with the Stephen vs Maud civil war). Anyway, he puts his oar in about this burial request, which I found appalling, as the young man was only trying to honorably carry out his master’s last wish! Well, the burial is done, but then the young man puts his foot in his mouth afterwards, voicing “heresy” to jealous people in the master’s household. They snitch to the abbot, and the young man is actually jailed until the presiding bishop for Shrewsbury can come sort it. Meanwhile, there’s a murder and Cadfael has to get involved.

This one was a bit hard going for me, unusual for this series - but I kept seeing shades of Torquemada and the Inquisition with all the fearful visiting clergyman’s questioning and rigid beliefs. He confesses to Abbot Radulfus in private that he had seen terrible damage done in Europe by heretics, and England must be zealous against such thoughts.

All I could think was the Reformation couldn’t come soon enough, and remember all the blood spilled through the centuries because of religion. Maybe it’s because it’s still happening in the Middle East right now, but I was not in the mood for this! I usually love this series and find it restful, but not this time. I look forward to rereading the next book.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Second reading October 2021: I can't add anything to my first review except it's not my favorite book in the series anymore.
-------------

This was an excellent Cadfael. Perhaps my favorite in the series.

Many great questions were brought up in this little mystery! What was heresy in 12th century England? What are some of the motivations for accusing someone of heresy and are they always strictly about the church or can they be more personal? Can a "former heretic" (even if he was one unwittingly for 2min, 7 years ago) be buried on Abbey lands? I was able to sit in on a few doctrinal discussions in the Abbey as some of these points were debated as "The Heretic's Apprentice," named Elave was tried for heresy.

Excellent mystery and excellent peek into this topic of heresy!

[Robyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

It has taken me a whle to get into the Cadfael books but now that I have, I am hooked. I like the simple mystery elements of these stories and like having enough information to be able to deduce the crime for myself. I hate it when an author keeps clues to themselves so that the reader has no hope. I also like the attitudes to religion expressed through the mouths of the main characters.

[Kevin Goodrich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Peters. Good mystery but better view into the medieval mind.

[Scott Rezer · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Heretic’s Apprentice is quite different from Ms. Peters normal plot lines (save for The Confessions of Brother Haluin, another great mystery, which is very different) in that this one does involve a murder, but the set up for the treacherous crime involves a young man who is accused of heresy, only to find that his accuser decides to recant his story, but the damage is done.

It was only a matter of time before Ms. Peters worked into the series a story based on the many heresies running rampant at the time of the 12th century. Quite naturally, mention is made of Peter Abelard of Cluny, Father Bernard of Clairvaux, who also feared the heresies laying siege to France, the ancient beliefs of Origen from the second century, as well as the dreaded Manichean heresy found among the Cathars of Provence in southern France. Did we miss anyone? Oh yes, the accused man dared to insinuate Saint Augustine was in error. The horror.

When young Elave, the former clerk and now servant of his master William of Lythwood, once a merchant and vellum maker, returns home from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land with his master’s body bearing a precious gift as a dowry for Master William’s adopted daughter Fortunata, he is caught up in the heretical accusations once leveled at his master years ago. In 1141, when the Roman Catholic Church reigned supreme, these were black heresies, worthy of excommunication, or worse. But what is a young man to do when he is accused of such dark sins and refuses to say he never said them, even to save his own soul, and the woman he adores is forced to be a witness against him? Throw in the visiting Canon Gerbert who breathes fire and brimstone, and you have a recipe for disaster. Once more, it is up to Brother Cadfael to come to the rescue for soon young Elave is accused of murder as well.

And then, of course, there is the mystery of the missing book. Wait, did I say a missing book? Never mind. Forget that I said anything. Move along. Nothing to see here. Oh, but what a book…

The Heretic’s Apprentice is a thoroughly enjoyable episode of the Brother Cadfael series—another one that was not made into a TV episode—and one I hadn’t read before and glad I finally did. Sadly, there are only four books left in the series, but the good news I own them all so I can go back and reread my favorites. Easily five stars! A mystery that Publishers Weekly once hailed as one of Ms. Peters best. And I agree!

[Brian E Reynolds · Rating 4 out of 5]

This 16th in the Brother Cadfael historical mystery series concerns William of Lythwood returning home in a casket from a pilgrimage taken due to some alleged heresies he believed. Accompanying him on the trip and bringing his casket home is his attendant Elave who comes back to William’s estate where he had previously worked which William’s nephews now run. Elave also brings a beautiful carved box containing a treasure that William wished to give to his adopted daughter Fortunata for her dowry.
Elave is accused of heresy when he shares his religious views which were much like William’s. Besides the heresy trial, there is a murder and a theft of the box’s contents. The heresy, theft and murder mysteries are all intertwined and, as usual, Cadfael gets involved to help to bring satisfying resolutions to all these issues and to the blossoming romance.
The romance, theft and murder, though well plotted, cast and described, are formulaic Cadfael, but the heresy issue brings some atypical and interesting theological and Church doctrinal discussion. Such discussions would be tiresome if in every series volume, but they make for quite an interesting change of pace here. The heresy accusation occurs when an obnoxiously strident defender of the faith, Canon Gelbert, just happens to be visiting. The Canon’s presence provides the book both a villain and for some pleasing scenes of the Canon’s verbal sparring with Abbot Radalus for control of the processes and Prior Robert and Brother Jerome’s obsequious toadying up to the Canon.
Regretfully, after being key characters in the beginning, the Canon and toadies pretty much disappeared until the finale, which was a bit anti-climactic, except for the introduction of Bishop Roger de Clinton, an interesting character. This is also the third book in a row where there has been no major development In Cadfael’s personal relationships. On the plus side, there are also some scenes with descriptions of valuable books that should pique the interest of the book lovers found on Goodreads. A solid Cadfael I rate as 4 stars.

[Georgiana 1792 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Molto interessante questo romanzo che affronta il tema dell'eresia, un tema scottante in periodo medievale, in cui era pericolosissimo esprimere le proprie idee in fatto di dottrina religiosa, contraddicendo i dogmi della chiesa cattolica. In questo episodio, l'Abbazia benedettina di Shrewsbury è alle prese proprio con questo, dal momento che il giovane Elave è tornato in patria dopo un pellegrinaggio in Terra Santa con il suo signore, William di Lythwood, un ricco mercante che è stato un grande benefattore dell'abbazia e che, adesso che è morto, Elave vorrebbe far seppellire nel suo camposanto. Ma a Shrewsbury in quei giorni è presente anche il canonico Gerbert, che espone i suoi dubbi circa la fede di William di Lythwood, che ha lasciato lo Shropshire in odore di eresia.
Quando il giovane Elave esprime a sua volta le proprie idee circa il libero arbitrio e il peccato originale, viene accusato da Aldwyn - il contabile della famiglia di William di Lythwood, che teme di perdere il posto di lavoro per essere sostituito dal nuovo arrivato - di essere un eretico. Quindi, quando Aldwyn viene ritrovato morto, è sull'innocente Elave che ricadono le accuse.
Cadfael su darà da fare al fianco dello sceriffo Hugh Beringar per scoprire cosa può essere accaduto davvero. In quanto alla gravissima accusa di eresia, sarà il vescovo Roger de Clinton e nessun altro a dover giudicare Elave.
Come sempre, un bel giallo, che ci fa conoscere temi storici molto interessanti.

[Cassandra L. Manna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This murder mystery centered around a psalter so beautifully crafted and decorated that a man would kill for it and people who viewed it would think about its images for days. That is my kind of murder mystery!

I realized with the completion of this book that I am in the final few Cadfael stories left to me. I have almost made it through all 20 books. I have found I use these stories for escape, to bring me peace, to calm me down when I am anxious. I will miss having this world to escape into!

Ms. Peters does such a wonderful job really bringing you into the day to day life of medieval people, not just the great kings and royalty you learn about in history, but the clerks and servants, daughters and uncles, family and foster members. What a talented writer!

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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - I loved the book so much I would reread it again and would recommend to a friend.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - Thoroughly enjoyed the book, could not put it down, would recommend to a friend, but do not need to read again.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ - Probably a good book that I enjoyed but there was something about it I did not love (e.g. The writing style, the POV, etc.). I would only recommend to a friend if it was their "type" of book.
⭐️⭐️ - A book I have below average feelings for and it would not come with a recommendation from me but I would mention it in conversation if related to the book topic at issue.
⭐️ - I finished the book but I hated every second of it.

[Pamela Shropshire · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young man, Elave, arrives at the Abbey with the coffined-body of his master, William. Both were natives of Shrewsbury, and the elder had decided to go on pilgrimage to the Holy Land several years earlier, taking his clerk, Elave, with him. When William fell ill on the journey home, he gave Elave an exquisite box to take back home for his adopted daughter’s dowry. William’s other request was to be buried at the Abbey.

When Elave voices his late master’s request, a visiting clergyman, zealous about stamping out heresy, voices his doubts about William’s somewhat unorthodox beliefs. Elave echoes his master’s beliefs, and within a day, has been charged with heresy. Soon Elave is also under suspicion of murder, but as usual, Cadfael and Hugh team up to try to prove Elave innocent.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one went down some interesting new roads for the Cadfael series, particularly the bits on heresy. However, as expected for the kindest and coziest of mysteries, it's all wrapped up fairly neatly by the end.

(I marvel again at how these books are set in the 12th century, and yet are so soft, highlighting compassion and kindness and good sense, without feeling terribly anachronistic.)

I think it's time for a break again, however, as I get toward the end of the series.

[Rick Kelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another excellent mystery from Ellis Peters. As a departure from other mysteries in this series, there is no reference to significant occurrences in this part of the 11th century.
There are, however, all the elements that make this a great story. Love, honor, spirited religious doctrine discussions, colorful characters (both likeable and otherwise), a protagonist with a noble soul, a woman who recognizes that nobility and falls in love with him, and finally a clandestine murder with a twist as to who the perpetrator could be.
In the end you are left with a feeling that all is right with the world and good always prevails over evil even if that path to that victory is rocky and full of danger.