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Title: Dead Man's Ransom
Author: Ellis Peters
Narrator: Roe Kendall
Format: Unabridged
Length: 7 hrs and 31 mins
Language: English
Release date: 01-27-05
Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 120 votes
Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical
Publisher's Summary:
Canny as ever, Brother Cadfael suspects that more than a little evil is afoot, and before long his suspicions are confirmed. How Cadfael determines that the man's death was not a natural one is the stuff from which the best and most satisfying suspense stories are made.
In this case Ellis Peters's sleuthing Benedictine bases his indictment for murder on literally a single thread. Of extraordinary softness and hue, this filament will bind together the destinies of an unusual trio of young lovers. The unraveling of their tale yields a powerful subtext that explores the nature of love, identity, and divided loyalty.
A stunning conclusion and a memorable cast of characters, including the debut of the irrepressible Sister Magdalen, are sure to engage every devotee of medieval suspense.
Members Reviews:
Star-crossed lovers and nuns who go forth to battle
This 12th century mystery series by Ellis Peters take place in a fog of civil war, where the English and Welsh were raiding each otherâs borders and supporting one or another claimant to the English throne: Empress Maud or King Stephen. In spite of the ongoing violence, the author suffuses her novels with a deep sense of peace and contentment in the monastic life. A monk from the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul at Shrewsbury, Brother Cadfael, the ex-Crusader-turned herbalist is her solver of murders and mysteries of the heart. Ellis weaves a rich tapestry of his daily life on the war-torn Welsh border.
This ninth novel in a series of 21 mysteries, "Dead Man's Ransom," begins in February of 1141 with disastrous tidings for the people of Shrewsbury. King Stephen has been captured by the forces of Empress Maud, and their own sheriff, Gilbert Prestcote has fallen into the hands of Welshmen allied to the Empress.
Aline, wife of Hugh Beringer, Shrewsbury's deputy sheriff is nervously waiting for her husband to return from battle. She tells Brother Cadfael:
"Those who go forth to the battle never return without holes in their ranks, like gaping wounds."
Luckily Hugh (one of this series' long-running characters) does return and soon he has a hostage of his own: a high-ranking Welshman named Elis ap Cynan who was captured during a raid on a nearby convent.
Hugh Beringar dispatches Brother Cadfael into Wales to negotiate an exchange of prisoners: Elis for Sheriff Gilbert Prestcote.
Meanwhile, back at the castle, Elis and Prestcote's daughter, Melicent fall in love with one another, even though Melicent knows her father will never consent to her betrothal to a Welshman.
When the hostage swap goes horribly wrong, Brother Cadfael must solve a murder, and unite not one, but two sets of star-crossed lovers.
One of my favorite characters, the doughty Sister Magdelan (formerly Avice of Thornbury--seeThe Leper of Saint Giles (The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael Book 5)) plays an important role in "Dead Man's Ransom." After saving her convent from Welsh raiders, she teams up with Brother Cadfael to unite the young lovers. All in a day's work for my two favorite Peters' characters.
This is one of my favorite Cadfael episodes
I admit, I'm a Cadfael fan. I've bought every one of the books and I have all but two of the unabridged audio cassette sets. This is one of my favorite Cadfael episodes.
