August 1141. The civil war between Stephen and Empress Matilda has devastated Winchester, and monks from the destroyed abbey of Hyde seek refuge at Shrewsbury. Brother Cadfael welcomes the displaced brethren, but he soon notices that two of the arrivals carry a history that does not fit the simple story of men escaping war.
As the abbey offers sanctuary, Cadfael investigates identities concealed by the confusion of battle and flight. The mystery turns on loyalty, vows and a disappearance that reaches back before the rout at Winchester. Rather than separating crime from the Anarchy, the novel shows how civil war makes it easier for the past to be hidden and for vulnerable people to vanish.
Bernard Knight
31 books
Ian Morson
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Sharon Kay Penman
14 books
Elizabeth Chadwick
26 books
Cecelia Holland
20 books