The Rose Rent

Written by Ellis Peters

Narrated by Nadia May

A late spring in 1142 has the Abbey monks dismayed, for there may be no roses by June 22nd. For three years, the wealthy young widow Judith Perle has rented her house to the monks for the price of a single rose each year. When nature finally complies, a pious monk is sent to pay the rent-and found murdered beside the hacked rose-bush.

Without a rose, the monks’ rental contract becomes void, adding greatly to the widow’s dowry. But before Brother Cadfael can ponder if a greedy suitor has done this dreadful deed, another crime is committed. Now the good monk must thread his way through a tangle more tortuous than the widow’s thorny bushes.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Blackstone Audio
• Release date: May 25, 2011
• ISBN: 9781455121175

Ellis Peters

Ellis Peters (the pen name of Edith Pargeter, 1913–1995) is a writer beloved of millions of readers worldwide and has been widely adapted for radio and television, including her Brother Cadfael crime novels, which were made into a series starring Derek Jacobi. She has been the recipient of the Cartier Diamond Dagger, Edgar Award for Best Novel, Agatha Award for Best Novel, and was awarded an OBE for her services to literature in 1994.

Reviews for The Rose Rent

[fdholt · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

In 1745, the Wistar family sold land to the Reformed Church in Richland, Pennsylvania for a nominal sum and the payment of one red rose every year to the family in June, a practice the church continues to this day. (In the interests of disclosure, my uncle belonged to that church.) Mildred Jordan Bausher used that story when she wrote her famous novel, One red rose forever but changed names and places.Ellis Peters uses that same idea in The rose rent but changes some important details. The rent of a single rose is for a house given to the Abbey at Shrewsbury by a young widow. But things go wrong on the third anniversary. The bush is trampled and almost destroyed, a body is found and the lady goes missing. Father Cadfael has his hands full with further murder of a man and a rose bush.A map helped put the landscape of the story in perspective but the story was slow going and especially lagged in the middle of the book. Not Peters at her best, but, if you have read the other Cadfael Chronicles, you'll want to read this one as well.

[phoenixcomet · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Widow Perle leaves her estate to the Shrewsbury Monastery on the condition that she is delivered one white rose to her on St. Winifred's Day. When Brother Eluric is murdered at the site of the rose bush and the rose bush has been brutally attacked, Brother Cadfael realizes this is a complicated case of greed.

[angelab86 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A widow rents her former home to the Abbey for the price of a single rose a year. The monk who delivers the rose is found murdered, and then the widow herself disappears.

[angelag86 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A widow rents her former home to the Abbey for the price of a single rose a year. The monk who delivers the rose is found murdered, and then the widow herself disappears.

[ruthied-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I wish Cadfael was real and alive and my friend :)

[fuzzi_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This one had me guessing about "whodunit", and had several red herrings to deceive the reader. I liked it as well as most of this series entries, if not a tad more.

[jercox · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A little better than average, and I like Cadfael in general. The problems of agency for a woman with property in feudal england, plus love and the usual bad / trapped actors make for a fun story.

[meredy_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Six-word review: Slight departure refreshes Cadfael narrative formula.Extended review: There's a young woman, but she isn't a blue-eyed seventeen-year-old virgin with golden tresses. There's a man, but he isn't a dashing lad of twenty who's wrongfully accused of something and being hidden by Cadfael until his innocence can be shown.There's a killing, but it isn't of a middle-aged merchant with few enough redeeming qualities and some secret tie to the fate of kingdoms. There's a mystery, but its solution doesn't hang on some special knowledge that only Cadfael has or on a single thread or hair tellingly caught on a doorpost or a riverbank shrub.So although the setting and the continuing cast of characters are familiar and the story moves rapidly through a well-traveled arc, there's a feeling of novelty about this installment in the series.And very well timed for me, too, since I picked this one up prematurely, needing a break from much heavier fare.May the god of reading bless all cozy mysteries.(Rating: 3½ stars; within genre: 4 stars)

[theoclarke · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Some twenty years ago I read the second book in this series and found it too mannered for my taste. I so disliked it that I steered clear of Ellis Peters until I picked this one of my pile. This time I enjoyed the period feel and found the characters richly delineated. The mystery had a satisfying complexity without feeling contrived and there is a satisfying distinction of place between the town, the abbey, and the hinterland.

[weebaby_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I got this from the "free books" box at the local library. I picked it up because I am a fan of the PBS series and I actively participate in the Society for Creative Anachronism.I loved the descriptive narrative and the language. The story itself was a little uneven, but enjoyable nonetheless.I did find myself wishing for more romance near the end. Oh well.

[seoulful · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What a delight to be drawn into the world of Brother Cadfael in the medieval town and Abbey of Shrewsbury, England. The author, Ellis Peters, is a medieval scholar, a master of the English language and a shrewd observer of character just like her worldly-wise, but now tonsured character, Brother Cadfael. This is the thirteenth in a series of mysteries surrounding the folk of Shrewsbury all of which are deftly solved by the herbalist and former Crusader, Brother Cadfael. There is always a touch of romance, an assurance of everyone in his proper place in society, reverence for those things Holy, and respect for men and women of honour and courage with a wide latitude of allowance for the weaknesses of humankind. Ellis Peter's characters speak with the cadences, words and manners of the middle ages and are immensely likeable.

[dwwilkin_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book has a different pacing then the last several in the series. There is still a build-up to the first murder and the mystery, but in this instance we are focused on the mystery. There is detail about the part of medieval life that surrounds and embraces those involved in the mystery and that background breathes life into these stories. But in this instance the politics of the King and Empress is lacking, but not sadly so.That the tug of war of the Civil War that was occurring and featured so prominently in the preceeding books is gone has allowed the series to grow and be much more focused on it's genre. A much better mystery then some of what has been contrived to fit in the Civil War previously.What one misses is that Cadfael, who does solve our mysteries with help, has special skills in herbology and this is not needed to solve the crimes and has seldom been played up. He is making casting impressions in this case and that certainly seems much more like a modern sleuth then one whose background as the local pharmacist for near twenty years would also be able to contribute.Cadfael does not recognize his own growth away from his hut of herbs and spices, but does indeed know that solving the problem of the mystery is where he finds peace. I would think that at some time the abbey would say something along those lines, but we do glimpse the politics there on occasion and see that won't be forthcoming soon.

[readafew · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Rose Rent is the 13th book in the Brother Cadfael Mystery series. Cadfael is 12th Century English monk and apothecary with an open mind and an observant eye. It was a pretty good book and it did a good job of keeping one guessing who was the ultimate villain. The Rose rent is required from the Widow Perle when she made a gift to the abbey of her property after the death of her husband and child, every year on St. Winifred's translation she was to receive one white Rose from the bush behind the house. Things go wrong when it appears someone tried to kill the rose bush in an apparent effort to invalidate the contract with the abbey. Unfortunately for the saboteur, they were caught in the act by a monk who prevented the vandalism with his life. But finding out who and why is not as easy as it sounds with a rather large list of suspects.

[stnylan · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

There is at least one love story for every Brother Cadfael story, sometimes more. However, of all the romances the one contained within these pages speaks more to me than the others. I just find it a shame the tv adaptation semi-wrecked it. The murder story itself is also pretty good, though not I think her best.

[armyangel1986 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A widow rents her former home to the Abbey for the price of a single rose a year. The monk who delivers the rose is found murdered, and then the widow herself disappears.