"It is 1141. In Shrewsbury, civil war is tearing the country apart as the bitter feud between King Stephen and Maud shows no sign of abating. But within the serene walls of the Benedictine abbey of St Peter and St Paul, peace still reigns and Brother Cadfael, himself a former soldier of the crusades, now uses prayer as his only weapon. When a Welsh prisoner of war is brought to him for treatment of a sword-wound, Cadfael finds the conflict rudely interrupting the harmony of religious life. As the foster son of the Prince of North Wales, the young soldier is a prized possession-so valuable, in fact, that he can be offered in exchange for Gilbert Prescott, Sheriff of Shrewsbury, who has been captured by the Welsh. A swap is duly arranged but, when one of the prisoners is found dead before the final transaction takes place, the community learns the horrifying truth: there is a murderer in the monastery. Can Cadfael find out who it is?" -- from the publisher - (July 2006).