by Ellis Peters
Part of Chronicles of Brother Cadfael, book 16
First published 1989
Brother Cadfael watches from the abbey gates as two travelers approach Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the summer heat of 1143. They carry with them a corpse, seeking burial on holy ground. The grim arrival sets tongues wagging among the brothers, but worse follows when a second violent death strikes within the abbey walls. Cadfael finds himself drawn into the mystery connecting these two killings. The monk must untangle the web of secrets that binds the deaths together before more blood stains the sacred ground. As he pursues the truth through the cloisters and beyond, Cadfael discovers that even in God's house, human passions run deep enough to kill.
Genres: historical-fiction, mystery, crime
Vibes: atmospheric, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, found-family
Setting: Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Abbey
Period: 1143
250 pages · Mass Market Paperback · Mysterious Press