As the war between Empress Maud and King Stephen feels increasingly meaningless, the English Anarchy has begun to wreak havoc on quiet hamlets. Abbeys burn with nuns inside of them. This installment is quite a bit darker than others in the series. Especially as we are introduced to Brother Urien, whose chapters had me humming “Hellfire” from Hunchback in my head. 

Cadfael takes a bit of a backseat in this one, leaving much of the sleuthing to Hugh Baringar and more peripheral characters. Unlike its predecessors, this is less murder mystery and more missing persons case, but all the classic elements are still there — including Ellis Peters’ ever-entertaining vocabulary.