The first three novels in the awardâwinning medieval mystery series featuring the Welsh monk, herbalist, and crime-solver.
Benedictine monk Brother Cadfael, âwily veteran of the Crusades,â has a deep knowledge of herbalism he picked up in the Holy Land, and a skill for observing human natureâboth blessings in dire situations (Los Angeles Times). This volume includes the first three books in the series that earned its author a CWA Silver Dagger Award:
A Morbid Taste for Bones
At Shrewsbury Abbey, Brother Cadfael tends herbs and vegetables in the gardenâbut now thereâs a more pressing matter. He is to serve as translator for a group of monks heading to a Welsh town to collect the holy remains of Saint Winifred, which Prior Robert hopes will boost the abbeyâs reputation as well as his own. But when they arrive in Gwytherin, some object to disturbing the graveâand one of them is killed by an arrow. Some believe Saint Winifred herself delivered the deadly blow, but Brother Cadfael knows better . . .
âIrresistible . . . compelling.â âThe Washington Post
One Corpse Too Many
In 1138, war between King Stephen and the Empress Maud takes Brother Cadfael from his quiet garden into a battlefield of passions, deceptions, and death. Not far from the abbey, Shrewsbury Castle falls, leaving its ninety-four defenders to hang as traitors. With a heavy heart, Cadfael agrees to bury the dead, only to make a grisly discovery: one extra victim whoâs been strangled, not hanged . . .
âA colorful and authentic medieval background.â âPublishers Weekly
Monkâs Hood
Gervase Bonel is a guest of the abbey when he suddenly takes ill. Skilled herbalist Brother Cadfael hurries to the manâs bedside, only to be confronted with two surprises: In Master Bonelâs wife, the good monk recognizes a woman he loved before he took his vowsâand Master Bonel has been fatally poisoned by monkâs-hood oil from Cadfaelâs stores . . .
âEach addition to the series is a joy.â âUSA Today