Dead Man's Ransom (Brother Cadfael Mysteries)

DEAD MAN'S RANSOM is one of the most complex and convoluted of the Father Cadfael mysteries by Ellis Peters. The way to marriage can be through murder. Nash Black, author of WRITING AS A SMALL BUSINESS.

I'm reading the Cadfael chronicles in order. Our county library did not have this one, so I bought it. Having finished it yesterday, I'll now donate it to the library. The BBC productions of Cadfael are good, but the books contain much more detail. Each one is delightful.

I really enjoyed the Cadfael TV series and was sorry when I got to the last installment. Then, I found out that not all the novels had been used. There are 7 (really 8 as one was not followed all that well) left over - not counting the related book of three short stories. The novel here, Dead Man's Ransom, is the first of the novels not used for TV which is the ninth in the overall series of the Cadfael chronicles/novels. I enjoyed the book, but it seemed to start off a little slow and some of the "expressions" used were a little hard for me to understand - maybe you have to be British. In any case, things do pick up and there are numerous plot twists/surprises along the way to keep things interesting. The author managed to do a lot in only a short number of pages - 190 in the edition I read. I did manage to figure out who the killer was before it was "announced", but maybe it was pretty easy by that point as there were a lot of clues by then. There is at least one other crime as well which was resolved in a somewhat "unexpected" way. Some may think the ending a bit of a cop out, but at least it is a happy one. I look forward to the other 6 or 7 novels remaining for me.

Ellis Peters, the pseudonym for Edith Pargeter, has carved a special niche with the Brother Cadfael mysteries. She is able to bring to life twelfth-century England, mixing monastic daily life with the very real threat of murder and mayhem, which there seems to be a lot of in the town of Shrewsbury. "Dead Man's Ransom" is the ninth chronicle of Cadfael's sojourns into sleuthing and it offers readers a unique mystery. With border clashes an ongoing problem between the English and Welsh, a young Welsh prisoner is brought to Shrewsbury. Hugh Beringar is now in charge of the town since his sheriff has been captured by the Welsh. He hopes to exchange his prisoner for his sheriff, which he manages to do, but not before complications arise. For the sheriff's daughter falls in love with the prisoner, and they know that her father's return will tear them apart. Shortly after the sheriff returns, he is found murdered in the abbey where he had been recovering from his wounds. The likeliest suspect is the young prisoner who had everything to gain if the sheriff was out of his way, and now he must try to clear his name on foreign soil. "Dead Man's Ransom" is a quick-paced read and an interesting mystery that may keep readers guessing. At times Peters' prose is weighed down with too much effort at capturing twelfth-century English turns of phrases, but Brother Cadfael is a unique detective and one that keeps readers interested.

A good mystery story that is too neatly wrapped up at the end, Peters provides a good plot, her usual superb characterizations and dialogue to make this an exceptionally good read.