The Hermit Of Eyton Forest

By Ellis Peters

In the Autumn of 1142, a holy man living as a hermit is found dead. His murder coincides with the arrival at the Abbey of Shrewsbury of the new Lord of Eaton. Brother Cadfael suspects a connection, but the new lord is only ten years old – who can have been acting in his interests?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Head of Zeus
• Release date: Jun 2, 2014
• ISBN: 9781784080648

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 Hermit Of Eyton Forest

[fdholt · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A hermit, a servant, a child under the protection of the monks at Shrewsbury Abbey, an avaricious grandmother and a dead body populate the pages of the next installment of the Brother Cadfael chronicles, The hermit of Eyton Forest. As usual, Cadfael sees things that others do not and solves the mystery while helping the child, Richard Ludel.There is no map in this volume and one would have been useful to understand where the action is taking place. All-in-all, an average Brother Cadfael mystery.

[phoenixcomet · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This one took me a bit longer than usual to get through. When Richard Ludel Sr. dies at the early age of 35, his son, currently cloistered with the monks at Shrewsbury is demanded to return home by his overbearing grandmother. Father Abbot Radolphus is determined to honor the decedents wishes to educate the boy until he is old enough to manage the Eaton estate on his own. His grandmother has other plans - to marry him off at age 10 to the neighbor's daughter. At the same time, a hermit, Cuthred, takes up residency in the hermitage on the Eaton estate and with him, a young helper Hyacinth. Hyacinth, creator of mischief falls in love with the forester's daughter, but meanwhile is being pursued by another who believes him to be a fled villein.

[jguidry-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was a decent mystery novel. I liked the characters and the story itself was fine. What kept it from a higher rating for me was the anti-climactic ending. It kind of just fizzled out when the murderer was revealed. Even Cadfael kind of went, "Oh well." Loved the historical elements so I will definitely continue the series.

[mrsrk-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Every time I read a book by Elis Peters (Edit Pargeter) I am reminded why I simply devour them: she is an incredible writer. She has a tremendous descriptive talent. The Hermit of Eyton Forest is another excellent example of Elis' fantastic skills. A couple of examples: "[...] the sense of enlargement that seemed to swell the soul to inhabit and fill the last arches of the vault, as a single drop of water becomes the ocean into which it falls." And: "[...] God, Who can read both the lines and between the lines, and Who in the end, in matters of passion as in matters of justice, will have the last word." These kinds of beautifully crafted phrases are to be found everywhere in her books. I highly recommend any of the Cadfael series.

[fuzzi_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Good entry into the series, with some not obvious revelations reserved for the very end. I also noticed and appreciated more introspection by Brother Cadfael.

[walterhistory · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A hermit & his apprentice appear & shortly news of a foul murder in London arrive at the abbey. A nobleman appears searching for the murderer & a passing merchant is found dead. Cadfael begins to wonder what all of this means. His search leads him to the hermit who is hiding something far more than his appearance.

[marsap_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

10 year old Richard Ludel, a student entrusted to the abbey's care by his father, has just inherited a large estate upon his father's death. His grandmother, Dame Dionisia, insists that the boy be returned home and marry the “older” heiress to the adjoining property. Two mysterious tenants on Dame Dionisia's land, a devout hermit, Cuthred, and his young aid, Hyacinth, may in league Dionisia, who is unaware that Hyacinth is actually a runaway and that Cuthred's background is unknown. When Richard disappears from the abbey, Dame Dionisia is immediately suspect. Other events follow rapidly: an inquisitive nobleman is murdered in the forest; Hyacinth vanishes; and Cuthred is stabbed to death. Brother Cadfael must bring all his skills to solve the crimes. Though I love this series—this was not one of my favorites. I felt that character I love the most—Cadfael, was hardly part of the narrative—I found that I really wanted to see him work his “magic”—but the ending just seemed rushed. 2 ½ out of 5 stars.

[antiquary_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As usual the Brother Cadfael stores are agreeable, but this one has a historical error --it assumes a marriage was invalid if not performed by a priest. This was not true until the Council of Trent some 400 years later.

[cbl_tn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This installment finds Brother Cadfael involved with two problems – the murder of a monastery guest and the disappearance of one of the school boys, whose has just become lord of the manor of Eaton after his father's death. The father's will appointed the abbot as the boy's guardian, but the boy's grandmother has other plans for him. She wants to marry him off to the daughter of a neighboring landowner, even though the daughter is much older than 10-year-old Richard. The grandmother has allowed a hermit to take up residence on her land, and the hermit's young assistant becomes the main suspect for the murder. The assistant has fallen in love at first sight with the forester's daughter, and series readers know by now that Cadfael always has a soft spot for young lovers.Most books in this series follow the same formula. This isn't the best book in the series, but it's still interesting and enjoyable. Cadfael has helped other young people in danger of being married against their will, but it's usually a young woman. This predicament is given a new twist with a pre-adolescent boy as the object of Cadfael's aid. One of the biggest disappointments with this book is that Cadfael spends very little time in his herbarium or tending the sick. His knowledge of wounds and injuries mainly comes into play when he's examining corpses.

[meredy_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Six-word review: Surprise! Someone's hiding out in disguise.Extended review:Reading a Brother Cadfael mystery reminds me a lot of having lunch at a bookstore cafe: you know what you're getting, it won't be amazing but it's perfectly fine, you won't leave hungry, and anyway you didn't go there for the food.I wouldn't have said this when I'd read only the first two or three in the series, but this was my fourteenth. Among the things I'm happy to give the author credit for are building a main character with enough dimensions and conflicts to be interesting, recreating a fascinating historical setting, and knowing a good formula when she finds one.Not that everything is obvious from the beginning: it isn't. There are puzzles, red herrings, subplots, mysterious travelers, false names and false pretenses. And, dependably, there are charming young people whose threatened fortunes are championed by the worldly-wise Benedictine brother.In this case, we have an orphaned young heir with an overbearing grandmother, a runaway serf suspected of murder, and a revered hermit caught up in a scheme to gain control of valuable lands. Somehow this is all the business of the abbey, and Cadfael is actively engaged once again in the service of truth and justice. Dependable fun, written with style and old-fashioned grace. I didn't come here for astonishment.

[amelish · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

afternoon of a faun.

[ecw0647 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Peters, nom de plume of Edith Pargeter, and also author of the Inspector Felse series, as well as some other historical novels, situates the Brother Cadfael series during the anarchic times of King Stephen in the early twelfth century.

Cadfael is a monk at the Benedictine Abbey of Shrewsbury. He came to the cowl rather late, after service in the crusades, so he often takes a more worldly and practical approach to solving riddles than his fellow monks. He and his friend, Hugh Beringer, the under-sheriff, work together to solve murders, of which there seem to be plenty. The victim in this novel is Richard, elevenyear- old son of a wealthy lord who dies and leaves all his property to Richard. Richard was being schooled at the abbey, and despite entreaties from the boy’s grandmother to return him to her, the abbot refuses, citing the importance of Richard’s father’s wish that the boy receive a good education. The grandmother, the lady Dionysia, wants Richard’s return so she can marry him off to an old woman (she’s twenty-two) and gain ownership of some contiguous lands. Richard, certainly sly for his age, watches bemused, but disappears in the forest following a series of mishaps predicted by a hermit, reputed to be holy, who has the ear of Lady Dionysia. Nothing is as it appears.

Soon Cadfael is forced to keep a secret from Hugh, something he is rarely called upon to do, in order to protect the lives of two others, one a murderer, the other, an escaped vassal. Typically, before the solution is discovered, the forest is littered with the bodies of murdered men. This is a good one.

[benfulton · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

More interesting and complex than the other Cadfael mystery I read. I didn't connect the dots, either, although I felt silly for not doing it when the murderer was revealed. The backstory of the war between Stephen and Maud continues. Characters are interesting, and the slow pace of the medieval world continues to make for an enjoyable and rather dreamlike read.

[museofire · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Some interesting goings-on, with a victim and murderer who for once both deserve their fates. But Rafe of Coventry is a little deus ex machina, and there's more than a little wish-fulfillment in the way Hugh Beringar, himself a holder of villeins, connives at the escape of Hyacinth.

[seoulful · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Another dip into medieval life as we consider the plight of young Richard who is orphaned at ten and in the care of Abbot Radolphus at The Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul in Shrewsbury, England. He is now the heir of a manor and uneasy about his grandmother's desire to marry him off at a very young age to increase the wealth of the manoral holdings. Interesting characters in the form of a hermit who may not be a hermit and a runaway villein with the unlikely name of Hyacinth. There are two murders to occupy Brother Cadfael, resident herbalist at the Abbey. Brother Cadfael, who came late to his calling as a Brother, traveled the world widely in the Crusades and comes with a wealth of experience and knowledge in human behaviour and the clues that solve mysteries. Another very well-written book by Ellis Peters that is hard to lay down.

[dwwilkin_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Once again there is the backdrop of the political turmoil that surrounds the civil war interweaved in the story. Without it, the mystery would not stand, and by far that makes the telling the weaker. There are several nice twists to arrive at a conclusion but that we need something that touches the war between Maud and Stephen seems a stretch once again.Ellis is gone and Cadfael shall have no new mysteries in the canon, but with the knowledge of others in the field, the violent times of the dark ages should more than lend itself to murders without the need for princes and kings. The Abbey and Shrewsbury have more than an abundant wealth of detail that we have seen previously to support a rich environment for mayhem.This story and the mystery seem to stem from just such an environment, but the murders that come about end up being related once more to our civil war and the impetus of life going on in spite of such a war is denied.

[wyvernfriend · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Following the demis of Richard Ludel his ten-year-old son also Richard, a pupil at the Abbey becomes the new lord of Eaton and his grandmother decides that she is going to be in control of his life and wants to take him out, having little time for education. The Prior promised his father to teach him, so he sticks to his guns. Meanwhile a hermit, Cuthred has taken up residence in Eyton forest with a young companion Hyacinth, who befriends Richard. Some accidents start to happen around the estate and forest until Drogo Bosiet, a cruel lord, appears and is found dead in the forest. Then Richard disappears.An interesting story, short sharp and sweet. Pretty predictable with what happens and with a good echo of the politics of the time.