Chronicles of Brother Cadfael Series / The Hermit of Eyton Forest / Ellis Peters

The year is 1142 and England is in the throes of civil war. In the monasteries of the Benedictine Abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul, a chain of events begins that is no less momentous than the upheavals in the outside world.

It begins with the sad passing of Richard Ludel, Lord of Eyton, whose ten-year-old son and heir, also named Richard, is a student at the abbey. The boy refuses to surrender his newly inherited powers to Dionysia, his angry, fearsome grandmother. A stranger to the region is the hermit Cuthred, who enjoys the protection of Lady Dionysia and whose young companion Hyacinth befriends Richard. Despite his reputation as a saint, Cuthred’s arrival is met with a series of misfortunes for the monks. When a body is found in Eyton forest, Brother Cadfael must use his knowledge of human nature to track down a ruthless killer.