The Raven In The Foregate

By Ellis Peters

Winter, 1141. The Abbot of Shrewsbury returns from London bringing with him the harsh, unforgiving Father Ailnoth as pastor for Holy Cross parish. None are surprised when Ailnoth's body is found on Christmas morning, but it falls to Cadfael to find his murderer.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Head of Zeus
• Release date: Jun 2, 2014
• ISBN: 9781784080624

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 Raven In The Foregate

[angelag86 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A new priest comes to Shrewsbury, and sets about making himself as disliked as possible. When he is found dead, the list of suspects seems never ending. My other favorite of the series, I love Peter's writing.

[fuzzi_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Adequate entry in the series. I didn't guess the murderer but felt a little let down by how the mystery concluded.

[phoenixcomet · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I always enjoy Brother Cadfael mysteries. When a disliked priest, Father Ailnoch is found dead, no one is particularly troubled and yet Hugh Beringar must seek out the murderer. At the same time, a young man is trapped behind enemy lines and wishes to rejoin Empress Maude if only he can get out of Shrewsbury.

[fdholt · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In the twelfth chronicle of Brother Cadfael, the war between the Empress Maud and King Stephen is still raging but Shrewsbury is relatively quiet. Father Adam, pastor of the Foregate Church has died and a replacement is need. Abbot Radulfus, returning from a church council, brings with him Father Ailnoth along with his housekeeper and her nephew to the Foregate as priest and housekeeper. Of course, trouble follows as the new priest is arrogant with his flock. Soon Ailnoth is found dead and the nephew along with a score of parishioners could be the culprit. But with Hugh Beringar and Brother Cadfael, all is sorted out. A good medieval mystery!

[angelab86 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A new priest comes to Shrewsbury, and sets about making himself as disliked as possible. When he is found dead, the list of suspects seems never ending. My other favorite of the series, I love Peter's writing.

[walterhistory · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The new priest for Foregate proves to have no compassion nor mercy with his obsession of his new job. When he is found dead, there are plenty of suspects. Cadfael finds little evidence to show murder yet how to prove that is complicated by lack of witnesses or was there any?

[jen6e6moore · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The final joke was a little bit belabored, but overall I liked this one very much. Some mystery series become more unlikely the longer they go on - how many murders can there *be* in a small place? But I never get that feeling from this series, because every incident is so different from the next.

[antiquary_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

a strict new priest, unpopular in his parish, is murdered, and Cadfael investigates.

[meredy_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Six-word review: Unlamented sudden death exposes many secrets.Extended review:Brother Cadfael's twelfth outing as a medieval sleuth in monastic robes combines familiar elements: mysterious death, misplaced suspicion, disguised aristocrats, young love, and natural justice played out against a vast political field and a very small Benedictine one. Plot predictability, almost inevitable within such a narrow setting featuring a distinctive, knowable character, is its virtue as well as its shortcoming; the writing is, as ever, deft and elegant.I continue to enjoy this series, but I think it would also do to let a little more time elapse between episodes to offset a cloying sameness. Just what I needed at this juncture, however.

[dinadansfriend · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

the fourth in the "Brother Cadfel" mysteries. This is a taut and competent who-dunnit, an evening's entertainment.

[seoulful · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In this 12th Chronicle of Brother Cadfael, Ellis Peters once more explores the fine line dividing justice and mercy. She often finds the line blurred but more often than not will shy away from legalism in favor of grace. We find the rigid legalistic viewpoint embodied in Father Ailnoth, newly appointed priest to the church of the Foregate parish. Dismayed parishioners used to the merciful ways of the late Father Adam are among the many under suspicion when the "black" priest is found drowned Christmas morning.Brother Cadfael, herbalist and amateur sleuth at the Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in Shrewsbury, England is summoned to apply his shrewd powers of crime detection made difficult by a close-mouthed populace.At the conclusion of the case there are decisions to be weighed in the scales of justice and grace. Abbot Radulfus eloquently sums up the attitudes of the bearers of grace to a crowd still smarting from the injustices of Father Ailnoth warning them about thinking too highly of oneself and about judging others. "The company of the saints is not to be determined by any measure within our understanding. It cannot be made up of those without sin, for who that ever wore flesh, except one, can make so high a claim? But we, all we who share the burden of sin, it behoves us not to question or fret concerning the measure dealt out to us, or try to calculate our own merit and deserving, for we have not the tools by which to measure values concerning the soul. That is God's business. Rather it behoves us to live every day as though it were our last, to the full of such truth and kindness as is within us, and to lie down every night as though the next day were to be our first, and a new and pure beginning. The day will come when all will be made plain."

[dwwilkin_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The prose of Ellis Peters is phenomenal in it's own way. This time out the mystery has clues and red herrings a plenty, with the background of the civil war still thrown in to keep us entertained. A much better addition to the canon then some of the other previous ones of late.

[armyangel1986 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A new priest comes to Shrewsbury, and sets about making himself as disliked as possible. When he is found dead, the list of suspects seems never ending. My other favorite of the series, I love Peter's writing.