Rating:***

Genre: Mystery, historical fiction

Rating:***

Summary: A stir has gone through the normally quiet Benedictine monks of Shrewsbury Abbey. Brother Jerome, during a vigil spent at poor, ailing Brother Columbanus' bedside, had a vision. In this vision, Saint Winifred came to him and told him of a holy spring that would heal Brother Columbanus. A party is instantly wrangled to lead Brother Columbanus to this well, and, by the urgings of Prior Robert, bring back the bones of Saint Winifred. Brother Cadfael, the protagonist, is included in the group as the translator, being the only Welshman fit to travel. Cadfael has his reservations about carting a poor girl's bones into strange soil, but there is nothing he can do to persuade them against it, and he might as well enjoy his vacation. But things do not go well for the monks. The people of Gwytherin are understandably reluctant to give up their saint, but when a leading man of the town is murdered, Cadfael has to find a killer to save more than one life.

    A bit of history is required for this book. Before King Henry died, he made all the lords of England pledge fealty to his daughter, Maud. He died while his daughter was in Normandy, and Maud's cousin Stephen seized the throne. Unfortunately, Stephen was a lousy king, one of the worst England has seen. After a year, Maud chose to take back her birth-right, but Stephen wasn't willing to give up the throne. This degenerated into a civil war with no winner. It ended much later, When Maud's son Henry made Stephen recognize him as the heir to the throne.
    Anyway, back to the book. The narrative flows steadily throughout the whole book. The author's style of writing is calm and unhurried, with a trace of subtle humor, like the protagonist himself. I always enjoy the atmosphere of historical novels, and this book certainly does not lack it. It's also a bit of a romance (but only a bit). The style of these books always remind me a little of Agatha Christie, so if you enjoy her, perhaps this is a good book for you. The suspense and mysteriousness of it all is enough to satisfy a mystery lover's appitite, and the last little twist succeeds in bringing everything to a satisfactory close. Written by: Lava