At Christmas in 1138, Brother Cadfael's knowledge of herbs becomes a liability when a local landholder dies after being poisoned with a preparation made from plants in Cadfael's own stores. The death places suspicion close to the abbey and forces Cadfael to examine the household tensions surrounding the victim rather than accept the easiest explanation.
The investigation moves between Shrewsbury Abbey and the family whose inheritance is altered by the murder. Cadfael's experience as a former soldier and traveller helps him read motives that others overlook, but the case also reaches into his own past. Solving the poisoning requires him to distinguish an old grievance from the immediate interests created by property, marriage and succession.
Bernard Knight
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Ian Morson
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Sharon Kay Penman
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Elizabeth Chadwick
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Cecelia Holland
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