Dead Man's Ransom: A cosy medieval whodunnit featuring classic crime’s most unique detective

By Ellis Peters

Discover Brother Cadfael: Former soldier. Benedictine monk. Amateur sleuth.

The Cadfael Chronicles, by Diamond Dagger winner Ellis Peters, follow the mediaeval mysteries of one of classic crime's most unique detectives.

In the battle of Lincoln, 1141, the Sheriff of Shropshire is captured by the Welsh forces of the Empress Maud. The county proposes to exchange him for a young Welsh nobleman. But when the Sheriff is murdered only Brother Cadfael can save the captive from retaliation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
• Release date: Jun 2, 2014
• ISBN: 9781784080594

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 Dead Man's Ransom

[walterhistory · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

After a battle up north ends in King Stephen's imprisonment & the disappearance of the town's Sheriff, rumors fly that the Sheriff is still alive but the abbey has no bargaining chip until a foolish noble gets caught attempting to break into a nunnery. The Welsh family agrees to the exchange except that the Sheriff ends up dead in the Abbey's infirmary after the exchange. Cadfael knows there are more than 2 suspects & only one of them carried out the crime. Will Cadfael get to the killer before the bandits return to wipe out the nunnery?

[fuzzi_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Adequate entry in this entertaining series, and I didn't guess the culprit before it was revealed.

[fdholt · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Sheriff Prescote is wounded and a prisoner of the Empress Maud's forces. An exchange is being arranged and he is brought back to the Abbey at Shrewsbury where Brothers Edmund and Cadfael can care for him. However he has made enemies and is murdered in the infirmary. So what happens to the young man to be exchanged! And who murdered the sheriff, who as a dead man cannot be ransomed. In this book, we see medieval Wales under Owain Gwynedd (the grandfather of Llewelyn, "the one, true and only Prince of Wales," as well as the continuing feud between King Stephen and the Empress. A book well worth reading!

[phoenixcomet · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It is a turbulent time in England. King Stephen and Empress Maud battle for the throne. In one such battle, Stephen is taken and Gilbert Prestcote is felled. In another battle, a group of Welsh attempt to loot an area for ill gotten gains during which Elis, is left nearly drowned in the local stream. The nearby nunnery deflected the ransacking of their area, rescued Elis, Welsh royalty. Quickly Hugh Beringar sees that Elis may be exchanged for Gilbert. As Hugh's prisoner of war, Elis finds himself missing his foster-brother Eilud and falling madly in love with Prestcote's daughter, Melicent. Eilud is, meanwhile, in love with Elis' bethrothed since childhood, Cristina. But then Gilbert Prestcote dies, and Brother Cadfael declares it murder.

[hopeevey · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is an awesome installment of the Brother Caedfael novels! Not only is the writing as compelling as ever, the characters are well written, complex, and engaging, and the plot is both fascinating, consistent, but very surprising. There was more than one twist that completely surprised me, but worked perfectly. I highly recommend this book!

[marysgirl · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Another romp through murder, civil war, border raids, well-seasoned with star-crossed young lovers. A wonderful palate cleanser.

[turtlesleap · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Brother Cadfael crosses the border into Wales as an emissary for the English and to search for a vital clue to the murder of the Sheriff as he lay ill and sleeping in the monastery. Peters writes her usual compelling tale with one of the most engaging characters from any mystery series.

[auntie0nanuuq · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In a drunken brawl a man accidentally killed.....The Sheriff strict & unyielding hung by the neck until dead the two survivors. One of those hung, his 1/2 brother seeks revenge upon the Sheriff, but is healing from a broken leg in the Abbey's Infirmary.

Afar at the nunnery, a Welsh raiding party is foiled, a young man sowing wild oats is struck down and nearly drown in the river. Rescued & brought back to life to stand trial is now in the Abbey's Infirmary. This young man meets the Sheriff's flaxen haired daughter, spurns his betrothed for her of flaxen hair, and seeks the Sheriff's permission to marry.

The cousin of the young man is brought to make penance & reparation.

The Sheriff lays beaten, near death in the Abbey's infirmary.... In stealth three approach the Sheriff....in the morning the Sheriff lays dead, a gold brooch is missing, another patient is missing.

The Sheriff's daughter denounces her secretly betrothed accusing him of murder...

All the while Brother Cadfael makes discreet inquiries & investigates the murder....

[antiquary_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The sheriff of Shropshire, Gilbert Prestcote, is wounded fighting for King Stephen, and then murdered before he can recover. Cadfael's friend Hugh Berengar, Prestcote's deputy, has to find the killer, with Cadfael's aid. This is an unusual story in that the victim had been a regular character in the series though not exactly a major one.

[jen6e6moore · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Lots of Welshness in this one, which I enjoyed; really implausible love quadrangle, which I didn't. And like other reviewers, I really want Sister Magdalene to have her own series.

[helenliz_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Ahh, you can't beat a good Cadfael book. It's all here; crime, passion, guilt, justice and mercy. Cadfael here gets involved in an exchange of prisoners that goes wrong when one, the wounded Sheriff of Shropshire, dies before the exchange can be completed. The other party to the exchange proves to be a young welshman who has fallen for the sheriff's daughter (and she for him). When the sheriff is found dead, the young man is accused of his murder, and the remainder of the book is spent sorting out the unhappy tangle they all find themselves in. Aided and abetted by the former Avice of Thornbury (one of Peters' really believable characters getting a well deserved second outing) this has one of those solutions where it's the right solution, not necessarily the lawful solution. But Hugh is elsewhere and accepts the fait accompli. There are times when Welsh law does seem a lot more sensible than the English equivalent.

[meredy_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Six-word review:Cadfael sponsors young romance, exposes murderer.

[amelish · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Do I care about these handsome young folks? No, I do not.

[michael5rimmer · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was the last of the Brother Cadfael books that I read. They were all really good, but I think I read too many, too quickly and spoiled my appetite for any more. Shame really.

[cfk_3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a typical Brother Cadfael mystery; very nearly quit out of sheer boredom. The end had a couple of delightful twists which redeemed it for me. Magdalene character was new to me--she added a fresh and sassy air to the plodding brother.

[cbl_tn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When sheriff Gilbert Prescott is captured during the battle of Lincoln, Hugh Beringar arranges for an exchange of prisoners. Before the exchange is complete, one of the prisoners dies. Although he was wounded, his battle wounds were not considered fatal, and his death came as a surprise. Brother Cadfael examines the dead man's body and discovers evidence of murder. The circumstances seem to leave little hope for the much-desired reconciliation or for two pairs of young lovers kept apart by the tragic circumstances.I was afraid I knew where the story was heading, but I was wrong. I didn't see the end coming, and it was better than the ending I had imagined for the book. I was pleased by the appearance of one of my favorite characters in The Leper of St. Giles, the best of all the Cadfael books I've read so far. The book does have an uncharacteristic flaw. Fairly early in the book Peters introduces a character with a potential motive for murder, but then doesn't follow up on the character or the motive. I kept waiting for him to reappear but he didn't. I listened to this one in audio, so I might have been confused by unfamiliar names that sounded similar.

[seoulful · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In this ninth Brother Cadfael mystery, Sister Magdalen, formerly Avice of Thornbury, is featured, another unlikely late addition to the Benedictine Order living with a small group of sisters in the cell of Polesworth. Brother Cadfael of the Abbey at Shrewsbury, as Avice, joined the order only after living a full life in the world. These two worldly-wise, but now devoted members of the cloister, met before when Avice was the mistress of a baron and now in habit she is still a troubling, but respected distraction to the men. Once more we are in fractious times with the Empress Maud and King Stephen warring over the right to the throne. In the midst of battle, Sheriff Gilbert Prestcote is captured and held for ransom. Hugh Beringar, the able under-sheriff must now deal with a prisoner exchange involving a young Welshman of noble birth who is turned over to Hugh by his captors, Sister Magdalen and friends. There is the untimely death, nay murder of Prestcote and two tangled love affairs to keep Brother Cadfael busy, and finally there is a thoughtful discourse on the quality of mercy. We have a questionable release of the confessed murderer of Gilbert Prestcote involving many accomplices including Sister Magdalen and Brother Cadfael. Cadfael later muses to a wondering Hugh Beringar," I hope we have made, between us all, the best of a great ill, and who could do more? Once, I remember, Father Abbot said that our purpose is justice, and with God lies the privilege of mercy. But even God, when he intends mercy, needs tools to his hand." And yet, in such determinations, there is an overlying sadness with justice perhaps a trifle askew.

[dwwilkin_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Seems more a semi believable love story. The color of the period however makes this a joy.

[wyvernfriend · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I've seen this on TV too. War means that two people are being ransomed, one dies, Cadfael investigates.