The Rose Rent (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael #13), Ellis Peters. Mysterious Press/Open Road Integrated Media (ISBN: 9780446405331), 2014 (originally published in 1986).
Summary: Two deaths and the abduction of a widow seem tied to a white rose bush from which the annual rent of a Foregate property is paid in the form of one white rose.
It is coming up on the anniversary of the celebration of the placing of St. Winifred’s reliquary on the abbey altar. The same day also marks the payment of an unusual rent. Judith Perle, heir of a prosperous weaving establishment lost both her husband and unborn child within three weeks. In her grief, she deeded their home in the Foregate to the abbey with the provision of a rent of one white rose from a bush on the property, paid on St. Winifred’s day. It involved about half her estate. The business, however, prospers under her cousin Miles’ management, so much so that she thinks of entering the convent, unhappy with the suitors who have sought her hand (and fortune).
Brother Eluric, a monk given over to the abbey as a child, is designated to deliver the rent. But in doing so in previous years, he found himself attracted to her and he pleads to be released from the obligation to keep his soul pure, and he is. Niall, the householder, a widower with a young daughter, is designated to take his place, a task he is delighted to accept, as he is also attracted to the widow. He is a bronzesmith and his feelings are further fostered when Judith brings him a girdle to be repaired–a buckle had torn away.
Niall’s daughter lived with his sister but he visited regularly. One night, shortly before the rose rent is due, he finds the bush has been mangled but not destroyed. There is a body at its base, Brother Eluric, dead of a knife wound. A bootprint is found nearby, that Cadfael takes a mold of. Later, as he discusses the death with Judith. Cadfael discloses Eluric’s attraction. Judith determines the next day to end the whole rose rent thing, giving the house fully to the abbey. She speaks of this to a servant, who share it in the kitchen, where this is overheard by a number.
The next morning she sets out for the abbey and is seen crossing the bridge but never arrrives at the abbey or returns home. It is concluded that she has been abducted, particularly after a boat is recovered and a buckle from the girdle Niall repaired is found. The town is turned out to search for her, including Bertred, on of her workers. He goes out that night on a secret errand and finds where Judith is being held. A mishap is heard by a neighboring watchman who sets the dogs on him. He escapes by jumping into the river, stunned when he hits his head. Then, as he comes to, a dark figure strikes another blow, and shoves him into deeper water, where Cadfael finds his body the next day. And he discover that the boots match the bootprint he found by Brother Eluric.
Was Bertred Eluric’s killer? And who killed Bertred? And is Judith’s abduction connected, and how will it all come right? Cadfael is not alone in the resolution of it all. Our old friend Sister Magdalen will play a role as does Niall, and Judith herself, with Cadfael himself uncovering the key clue pointing to the murderer. What’s most interesting in this story is we find ourselves pressed to keep in focus the murders as the story of Judith’s abduction unfolds, with all the possible implications this has.