The Confession of Brother Haluin (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael, 15), Ellis Peters. Open Road Integrated Media (ASIN: B00LUZNWTU), 2014 (First published in 1988).

Summary: From deathbed confession to arduous journey, Brother Haluin’s miraculous recovery results in a journey of penance accompanied by Cadfael.

In mid-December of 1142, heavy snows wrought heavy damage to the tile roof of the guest hall. Rather than risk worse damage by waiting until warmer weather, crews of monks climbed the treacherous roof to remove snow and make repairs. One of these, Brother Haluin, got caught in an avalanche of snow and tiles. Severely injured by a forty foot fall, with his feet and ankles a shredded mess from the tiles, No one expects him to live.

Brother Cadfael does his best. But the brother, sensing death near, calls for the abbot. And he confesses the terrible sin that drove him to monastic vows. Not only that, he betrayed Cadfael’s trust. His love for a girl resulted in pregnancy. Then he used Cadfael’s pharmacy to give the mother a compound to abort the girl. Sadly, he learns the girl and her child died in the process.

Contrary to all expectations, Brother Haluin recovers. But the fall irreparably crippled him. On his deathbed, he vowed to take a journey of penance. He would confess his sin to the mother and then pray a night vigil at the tomb of the girl, Bertrade. All attempts to dissuade him cannot stand against his vow. Abbot Radulfus assigns Brother Cadfael to accompany him.

To begin with, the journey to Lady de Clary’s takes several days. After the initial shock of encountering her daughter’s former lover, she absolves him of his sins. But she shares difficult news. Bertrade is not buried there but in Elford, in the family tomb, a much further journey. And so Cadfael and the crippled man, refusing mounts, must make their way. They observe Lady de Clary and two of her men ride ahead. They arrive in Elford, where Lady de Clary’s son lives. While afforded hospitality, it is clear they want the brothers to fulfill their errand. And so, Brother Haluin fulfills his vow and prays at the tomb through the night.

A young man, Roscelin, slips in and helps Haluin, stiff from his nights labors. Roscelin is serving Audemar, the lady’s son, sent away inexplicably, by his father Cenred. A snowstorm forces the brothers to stay at Vivers, Cenred’s manor. Haluin, who is an ordained priest, is asked to officiate a wedding. Cenred’s sister’s daughter Helisende is to marry a young landowner. But this does not sit well with Edgytha, a governess to both Roscelin and Helisende. She witnessed their growing love, forbidden by their close relationship. This is why Roscelin was sent away and is not present.

Then Edgytha disappears on an errand in the snow and does not return. Cadfael, among the searchers, finds her body on the road back to Elford. An assailant stabbed her and the snow beneath her suggests she was on her way back from Elford. Then Helisende disappears. With the wedding off, the brothers continue home, only to make a series of discoveries that explains the murder of Edgytha and changes the lives of Haluin, Roscelin, and Helisende.

This was a very different Cadfael. The murder occurs late in the story, which takes pace far from Shrewbury. In some ways, the murder was incidental to the story. Unlike most of the stories, there is little interaction between Hugh and Cadfael. Instead, Cadfael is the wise friend helping Haluin find peace. While incidental to the plot, the exercise of hospitality runs through the story. Through it all, Peters explores the question of finding forgiveness for grievous sin, far more crippling to Haluin than his physical injuries.

The Raven in the Foregate (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael #12), Ellis Peters. Mysterious Press/Open Road Integrated Media (ISBN: 9781497671386), 2014 (Originally published in 1986).

Summary: A graceless priest comes to Holy Cross church in Foregate and alienates his parish and is found dead, while a young man who came with him, assigned to Cadfael, is not what he seems.

December of 1141 finds both Abbot Radulfus and Hugh Beringar on the road. The Abbot is called to Winchester for a council to reaffirm church loyalties to King Stephen, now free after an exchange in which Robert of Gloucester returned to the side of Empress Maud. He returns with a priest, formerly clerk to Bishop Henry, along with his housekeeper, Diota Hammet and her nephew Benet, an apparently simple, unskilled young man. He is assigned to help Cadfael. Shortly after, Hugh, who assumed but has never been confirmed in the office of Sheriff, goes to a council with Stephen, his future uncertain.

Father Ailnoth is appointed to the parish of Holy Cross in Foregate. The former priest, Father Adam has recently died and was loved by the parish for his pastoral care, particularly the mercy he showed and the light penances he gave when the people came to confess their sins. Father Ailnoth is cut of different cloth and in just the brief time before Christmas has alienated most of his parish. Passionate but believing Eluned could not resist the enticements of men but came in genuine penitence. Ailnoth refuses her absolution, penance, and communion. Cast out from the church, she throws herself in a pond. A young worker comes pleading for Ailnoth to baptize his dying infant. Ailnoth will not come until he finishes praying his office. The infant dies and then Ailnoth refuses the babe burial in consecrated ground. He strikes boys with his staff when their play near the parish house annoys him. He accuses the baker, an upright man and known for his bread, of giving short measure, He gets into a property dispute.

Meanwhile, Cadfael has taken joy getting to know the lad Benet who works hard at all the tasks he has given with cheer. He quickly realizes there is more to Benet than was apparent. He’s a quick study with the herbs, and can be trusted to look after things in Cadfael’s absence. But he wonders, who is this young man, really? He notices when Diota visits not only his affection for his aunt but the message he slips her. He also sees the visit of Sanan Berniere from the house of local noble Ralph Giffard, formerly associated with Maud, and the instant bond that forms between her and Benet, who is plainly not cut out for a monastic life.

Christmas Eve is a cold blustery night signaling the coming of winter. Cadfael is out walking when he sees Father Ailnoth rapidly walking out of town, and Giffard unhappily walking back. He also notes clues that Benet and likely Sanan had been in his workshop during the latter part of Matins. Early Christmas morning, Diota comes to the monastery. Father Ailnoth never returned home. A search is formed and his body is found, out past the mill, with a wound on the back of his head.

There are a host of suspects who had motives to kill the priest. Hugh arrives home as newly confirmed Sheriff to confront this situation. He also has a task from Stephen, to hunt down Ninian Bachilar, a supporter of Maud suspected to be in Shrewsbury. Giffard, eager to put his connections with Maud in the past, announces that Benet is Ninian, from the secret message Diota had carried, and accuses him of murdering Father Ailnoth, who had learned of the young man’s true identity from Giffard. Father Ailnoth’s hasty mission out of town was to confront Ninian, who had been supposed to meet Giffard.

Benet/Ninian, with the help of Sanan has gone into hiding, but not before telling Cadfael the truth. In fact, Cadfael at points warns the young man not to tell him certain things. Neither Cadfael nor Hugh are convinced that Ninian is Father Ailnoth’s killer and play a coy game of turning a blind eye to what each knows about the fugitive young man and the woman who loves him. The discovery of two missing articles, not found with Ailnoth’s body, hold the clues to how Ailnoth met his end, if the pieces can be put together.

Peters makes an interesting contrast in the story between the graceless Ailnoth and the ways Hugh and Cadfael approach his death, seeking truth to be sure but without jumping to graceless conclusions, seeing all those who could be suspects in their full humanity. There is a commentary here about how law is administered, both in church and society. In Cadfael, we see devotion to God and in Hugh, devotion to the king, and yet both pursue very different paths than the hapless Father Ailnoth, who never had the chance to learn mercy.

An Excellent Mystery, (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael #11), Ellis Peters. New York: Mysterious Press/Open Road Media, 2014 (first published in 1985).

Summary: A dying monk, a refugee from Maud’s wars, arrives at Shrewsbury Abbey with a mute brother as helper and a former aide of the monk discovers that the monk’s former betrothed is missing.

Maud’s efforts to secure the throne have taken a turn for the worst. The Bishop of Winchester won’t support her, lays siege to the town, and herself becomes besieged, escaping at great loss. but in the process both the Abbey at Hyde-Mead and the convent at Wherwell are razed, the latter with both troops and sisters dying in the chapel where they had taken sanctuary.

In August, two brothers from Hyde-Mead arrive at the Abbey at Shrewsbury. The elder, Humilis, is at death’s door. He has been tended on the road by Fidelis, who has indeed been faithful in doing what could be done. When Cadfael treats him, he recognizes an old Crusader, Godfrid Marescot, who formerly had lived on a nearby estate. He’d suffered a terrible wound, rendering him unable to father children, and slowly draining him of life. Fidelis supports his efforts, and in the process Cadfael learns that Fidelis is mute.

Before he was wounded, Marescot was betrothed to Julian of Cruce. When he realized he could not truly be a husband to her, he entered the Benedictines. He sent a trusted aide, Nicholas Harnage, to break the engagement. Now, Harnage, on leave from the Queen’s army, visits his old leader. His mission is a matter of the heart. When he carried the news of the broken engagement, Julian attracted his own attention. Now he asks Humilis for his blessing to pursue her hand, which Humilis grants. Harnage’s hopes are quickly dashed. Arriving at Julian’s brothers estate, he learns he is three years too late. Shortly after he’d brought the news from Marescot, Julian entered the convent–at Wherwell. Knowing what had recently occurred, he is worried–had she escaped or died.

He sets off for Wherwell, stopping briefly at Shrewsbury. What he finds alarms him yet more. He tracks down the prioress, and learns she never arrived, they had no knowledge of her. The focus turns to the four men who escorted her, and particularly the one men, who travelled alone with her the last portion of the journey, Adam Heriet. He is found and claims he had been ordered by his lady to let her complete the last part of the journey alone. When the wife of a jeweler in Winchester is questioned about a ring that had belonged to Julian, she describes Heriet as the seller. Taken into custody, as her longtime guardian, he stoutly denies any wrongdoing but offers no explanation.

Will Julian’s whereabouts, alive or dead be discovered before the life of Humilis, rapidly ebbing away, is discovered?

A sideplot, concerning Brother Urien, who expresses his attraction to two young brothers, Rhun and Fidelis, is handled with grace, even though Urien has acted gracelessly.

And Cadfael? Besides attentive care for Humilis and his last wishes, he plays the soul of discretion in averting what could have been a great scandal for the Abbey. But to say more, would be to say too much! All in all, an excellent mystery, indeed.

The Pilgrim of Hate (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael #10), Ellis Peter. New York: Mysterious Press/Open Road Media, 2014 (Originally published in 1984).

Summary: The Feast of the translation of St. Winifred is the occasion of new found love, a fugitive fleeing from murder, thievery, and a miracle, all of which engage Cadfael’s attention.

Abbot Radulfus has just returned from a legatine council where the support of the religious was urged for Empress Maud, maneuvering to be crowned Queen, seizing the crown from Stephen. The council ended in disorder and murder when Stephen’s wife sends an emissary to plead for his release, and a band attempts his murder only to be foiled by one of Maud’s knights, Rainald Bossard, who is stabbed in the back for his efforts, with the murderer at large. Radulfus is deeply disturbed by the murder and the depths of disorder he sees in the country.

Nevertheless, he returns at a time of celebration, the anniversary of the translation of the remains of Saint Winifred to the Abbey. The celebration finds Cadfael troubled. Only he and Hugh know that her actual remains lay in Wales, something Cadfael deeply believes she would have wanted. But does she look with favor on his subterfuge? Miracles continue to occur in Wales, but not in Shrewsbury. Cadfael hopes for a sign that what he did was right.

The Feast draws a crowd of pilgrims of all sorts. Among them are those who hope for a miracle. Dame Alice Weaver hopes for one for her nephew Rhun, a young man with a withered leg and twisted foot, able to walk only with crutches. Rhun is more concerned for his sister Melangell, who, without a dowry, faces a hard life. Cadfael ministers to Rhun, working the knotted muscles, but Rhun refuses potions to ease his pain, wishing them for others with greater need. There are also four suspicious merchants, actually thieves, causing mischief throughout the story, with Hugh close on their tails. Finally, two other pilgrims traveling together attract Cadfael’s attention. One is Ciaran, under a vow to walk barefoot to Wales, wearing a heavy cross that cuts into his neck that he refuses to remove. He is accompanied by Matthew that has taken a vow to accompany Ciaran. Along the way, he has occasion to render assistance to Melangell, the beginning of a growing bond between them.

Then Olivier de Bretagne shows up, who we first encountered in The Virgin in the Ice, when he works with Cadfael to rescue some refugee children. He is hoping to persuade Hugh to come over to Empress Maud’s side. Having sworn fealty to King Stephen, Hugh will not abandon his word. In a way, Olivier expected nothing less. He asks help on another matter. He is seeking Luc Meverel, son of the murdered Rainald Bossard, who went missing after the murder. Meanwhile Hugh is seeking Bossard’s murderer. Could these two be among the pilgrims, perhaps even guests at the abbey?

All these threads come to a head at the procession of the saints relic’s to the abbey church and the service that followed. Matthew and Melangell are in the procession, transported in both worship and love. Earlier, Ciaran had confided in Melangell that he released Matthew from his vow and was going alone to Wales, slipping away during the festivities. He swears her to silence. Then, as pilgrims approach the reliquary in prayer, it comes Rhun’s turn. He comes with no expectation for himself, praying for Melangell, when suddenly he puts his crutches aside, putting weight on the twisted foot which untwists, his atrophied leg becoming strong before the eyes of all. He climbs the steps, then kneels, and the church bursts out in praise. Cadfael, who has ministered to the young man, knows the extent of the miracle and the sign he has been given

But all is not wonderful. When Matthew learns Ciaran has left, and that Melangell knew of it, in anger, he strikes her on the cheeks, and goes in pursuit. Olivier goes after them on one road, believing one of them is Luc. Cadfael and Hugh learn they had taken a different path and follow, believing one is a murderer. Meanwhile, remember those thieves? They turn up as well, putting Cadfael at great risk. Meanwhile, a grieving Melangell waits in uncertainty back in Shrewsbury.

The procession and miracle, to me were a high point in the writing in this whole series, as if Peters were caught up in the events as well. The miracle comes as a grace, as all such works of God do. Rhun seems surprised as any, going forward in submission to his Aunt and out of love for Melangell. And Cadfael receives another gift, time with Olivier. Hugh notes their connection, and even resemblance, and is entrusted with a confidence from Cadfael, a mark of their ever-deepening friendship. This is all wonderful writing, reminding the reader that amid turmoil, evil, and murder, there is a deeper goodness, a richer beauty, and a wonder to be embraced.