The Potter’s Field (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael No. 17) Ellis Peters. Mysterious Press/Open Road Media (ASIN: B07B6B2CSP), 2014 (First published in 1989).

Summary: The Potter’s Field, a gift to the abbey, turns out to be a mystery rather than gift when a plow turns up a woman’s body with long black hair.

King Stephen has suffered another reverse in his war with Maud. Geoffrey de Mandeville, one of Maud’s men, has escaped Stephen’s siege at Cambridge and is laying waste the Fen country. Though distant from Shrewsbury, King Stephen may call for Hugh and his men at any time. And a refugee from Geoffrey’s attacks will play an important role in this story.

Locally, the abbey has just received a gift of a field that had once been part of the Longner estate. It is known as the Potter’s Field, for the rich clay soil by the river formerly used by a potter who is now a brother in the abbey. Brother Ruald, hearing the call of God, left his work, and more significantly, his wife. In her last bitter conversation with Ruald, Generys, his wife, told him she had another lover. Shortly after, she disappeared, presumably with that man.

That’s all called into question when the brothers begin plowing the upper part of the field. The plow turns up a skeleton with long hair. In her hands, she is holding a cross made of twigs. Her body bears no mark showing how she died. But burial in an unmarked and unblessed grave suggests someone wanted to conceal her death. But who is she, and who buried her? And was that person responsible for her death? These are the questions Abbot Radulfus, Cadfael, and Hugh Beringar try to resolve. Meanwhile, since her body had been found on abbey land, she is given a proper burial in the abbey cemetery.

Ruald, who seems so happy in his calling, is under suspicion, if the body was indeed that of Generys. But a visitor, an escapee from Geoffrey’s seizure of the Benedictine abbey at Ramsay, arrives bearing the news to Abbot Radulfus. Yet he is no stranger. Rather Brother Sulien Blount is the younger brother of the Lord of Longner Manor. He had sought out the monastery after his father Eudo went to serve with King Stephen, and died in battle.

When he learns of the body found in the field, he says it can’t be Generys. On his way to Shrewsbury, he stays with a jeweler in Petersborough, and sees a ring that he recognizes as that of Generys. The jeweler says she had sold the ring in company with a man in the last three weeks–a fugitive from Geoffrey but very much alive. Brother Ruald is happily in the clear, though stricken with the trouble he has caused his wife. Meanwhile, Sulien returns home to his dying mother Donata, taking the time to resolve doubts about his vows.

Suspicion next turns to Britric, a pedlar known to have stayed in the potter’s shed once it had been abandoned. The previous year, he had a woman, Gunnild, with him. This year, he was alone. Could it be her body? Could Britric have killed her? He is held, but once again Sulien provides the alibi, having found Gunnild, serving as maid to a young woman, Pernel, who definitely is interested in Sulien, who has renounced his vows.

The investigation is back at square one…or is it? It seems a bit too convenient that Sulien is the one providing alibis for Ruald and Britric. Is he the one with the connection to the woman in the field and does he know who she is? The answer, and how it comes to pass, caught me by surprise. Peters masterfully spins this tale.

The Heretic’s Apprentice (Brother Cadfael, 16), Ellis Peters. Mysterious Press/Open Road (ASIN: B00LUZNZ42), 2014 (First published in 1989).

Summary: The Heretic’s Apprentice is charged with heresy for defending his deceased master’s theological views and held for murder of his accuser.

It has been seven years since William of Lythwood left Shrewsbury on pilgrimage. Then one day, the apprentice who accompanied him returns home with William’s remains. His servant, Elave, has two tasks to fulfill. First, he must transport William’s body to the abbey for burial in its cemetery, since William had patronized the abbey. Questions arose about his beliefs, rumored heterodox. But he had taken communion throughout his journey, and when dying, was shriven of his sins. And he had supported the abbey, and so they honor his wishes.

The other task was to deliver an intricately carved box to William’s foster daughter, containing her dowry. The contents were locked and left so until William’s return, although stowed away in the presence of William’s household. In foster daughter Fortunata’s eyes, Elave is another gift. She had always looked up to him and her love had blossomed into something else. And Elave discovered that the skinny girl had blossomed into a beautiful woman!

One of the household members was Aldwin, the clerk who had taken Elave’s place. Elave’s return has him fearing for his job, even though Elave had assured the lady of the house that he would find employment elsewhere. Aldwin, sadly had not heard this. He also tries to sneak a peak at the contents of the box. Jevan, Girard’s younger brother, who runs the vellum end of the family’s business, interrupts him before he glimpses its contents.

Aldwin conspires with Conan, Girard’s chief shepherd, to trip up Elave. Hearing rumors of William’s heterodox ideas, they question Elave about them. Elave not only defends them but owns them. The next day, he finds himself facing a heresy charge before Abbot Radulfus. Were it up to Radulfus alone, he’d probably have dismissed this as youthful questioning by an intelligent young man, but an Augustinian canon is visiting and joins in hearing the charges, which include questioning the teaching of Augustine. This sounds like heresy. They hold him for trial before the bishop. But he has the liberty of the abbey, and as he thought, to come and go as long as he returned each evening.

Conan and Fortunata were witnesses to the conversation and called to testify, and Fortunata is beside herself and sees through Aldwin’;s plot. When this comes to Lady Lythwood’s ears, she sets Aldwin straight, that Elave had no interest in Aldwin’s job. And Aldwin is mortified, and wants to set things right. Conan tries to dissuade him in a long conversation at a pub, before returning to his flocks. But Aldwin never speaks to the Abbot. Nor does he return home. Instead, Cadfael finds his body in the river. Someone stabbed Aldwin in the back.

This spells more trouble for Elave, who happened to have gone to visit Fortunata, to assure her he held no ill will toward her for her testimony at about the time Alwin pursued his errand. The canon’s assistants rudely arrest him on return to the abbey and all suspicion turns on him though he swears innocence. Neither Cadfael nor Hugh Beringer, the sheriff are so quick. He’s in custody, improving his understanding under the tutelage of Brother Anselm. And it will be some days before the Bishop arrives.

Cadfael and Beringer pursue several questions. What were the original contents of the carved box? Where had Anselm been killed? And where did he go after leaving the pub? Did anyone else have motive and opportunity to kill Aldwin?

It does seem that Peters has used a similar plotline in several stories in the series. A young man accused who falls in love with a young woman. Even so, the plot is twisty enough to make one wonder. What is more interesting is the contrast between the canon and the abbot. One is a zealot for orthodoxy, having seen the consequences of false teaching in France and wanting to save the church in England from a similar fate. The other is the wise shepherd, who understands that faith doesn’t preclude questioning, and that Elave’s ideas were ones held at times by others, some even by a younger Augustine. Will Elave be found innocent of both murder and heresy?

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.