by Ellis Peters
Part of Chronicles of Brother Cadfael, book 20
Rating: 4.00 (1 ratings)
First published 1994
Brother Cadfael faces an impossible choice at Shrewsbury Abbey. News arrives of a betrayal that has trapped thirty of Empress Maud's knights in enemy hands. Twenty-nine will be ransomed and freed. One will die. That condemned man is Olivier, conceived during Cadfael's days as a soldier before he took holy orders. The young knight knows nothing of his true parentage. Cadfael has bent Abbey rules many times in his career as reluctant detective, but he has never violated his sacred vows. Now he must choose between his oath to God and his duty as a father. To save Olivier's life, Cadfael will have to abandon everything he has sworn to uphold. The treacherous act that doomed these knights sets in motion a crisis that will test not just Cadfael's detective skills, but the very foundation of his faith.
Genres: historical-fiction, mystery, thriller
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, thought-provoking
Tropes: impossible-choice, reluctant-detective
Setting: Shrewsbury Abbey
Period: medieval
255 pages · Paperback · Mysterious Press
Content warnings: death