This is the third book in the medieval mystery series about the Welsh Benedictine monk, Brother Cadfael. I've read several books in this series and enjoyed the PBS Mystery episodes featuring Derek Jacobi in role of Cadfael. Because of that series I can't help but picture Jacobi's Cadfael in my mind when reading the books. In this episode a new resident within the abbey walls is poisoned with a liniment prepared in herbalist Cadfael's workshop. The prime suspect is the victim's stepson. The motive being the stepson's loss of his promised inheritance when the victim, Master Bonel, chose to give his manor to the abbey in return for food & lodging for his family for the rest of his life. Richildis, Bonel's wife turns out to be Cadfael's former fiancee who he left behind when he went to fight in the Crusades prior to becoming a monk. It is her son who has been accused of the murder. Cadfael sets about finding the true killer and setting things right. A side plot involving the possibility of a new abbott running the monastery has the ambitious Prior Robert, Cadfael's nemesis in the abbey, acting as if he has already been named the successor.
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