A despised priest is drowned in a pond in this medieval mystery filled
with "lively period detail" (Kirkus Reviews).
In a mild December in the year of our Lord 1141, a new priest comes to
the parishioners of the Foregate outside the Abbey of Saint Peter and
Saint Paul. Father Ailnoth brings with him a housekeeper and her
nephew--and a disposition that invites murder.
Brother Cadfael quickly sees that father Ailnoth is a harsh man who,
striding along in his black cassock, looks like a doomsaying raven. The
housekeeper's nephew, Benet, is quite different--a smiling lad, a hard
worker in Cadfael's herb garden, but, as Brother Cadfael soon discovers,
an impostor. And when Ailnoth is found drowned, suspicion falls on
Benet, though many in the Foregate had cause to want this priest dead.
Now Brother Cadfael is gathering clues along with his medicinals to
treat a case of unholy passions, tragic politics, and perhaps divine
intervention.