Ken Follett is known worldwide as the master of split-second suspense, but his most beloved and bestselling book tells the magnificent tale of a twelfth-century monk driven to do the seemingly impossible: build the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has ever known. Everything readers expect from Follett is here: intrigue, fast-paced action, and passionate romance.

In this “enchanting” historical mystery, “medieval England comes marvelously alive” as Brother Cadfael investigates a woman’s baffling disappearance (The Washington Post).

In the year of our Lord 1141, August comes in golden as a lion, and two monks ride into the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul bringing with them disturbing news of war—and a mystery.
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Silver Dagger Award Winner: In this medieval mystery, Brother Cadfael faces suspicion when one of his herbal ingredients is used to kill a man.
Gervase Bonel is a guest of Shrewsbury Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul when he suddenly takes ill. Luckily, the abbey boasts the services of the clever and kindly Brother Cadfael, a skilled herbalist. Cadfael hurries to the man’s bedside, only to be confronted with two surprises: In...

In the 12th century Benedictine monastary of Shrewsbury, Brother Cadfael has settled down to a quiet life in charge of the herbarium after an adventurous, and far from monastic, youth. But when his piror determines to acquire the bones of a saint form a remote Welsh village, Cadfael's worldly experience becomes vitally important. It is fortunate indeed that his skills as a herbalist are matched by his prowess as a detective, since the obstacles to...

"In the summer of 1138, war between King Stephen and the Empress Maud takes Brother Cadfael from the quiet world of his garden into a battlefield of passions, deceptions, and death. Not far from the safety of the abbey walls, Shrewsbury Castle falls, leaving its ninety-four defenders loyal to the empress to hang as traitors. With a heavy heart, Brother Cadfael agrees to bury the dead, only to make a grisly discovery: one extra victim that has been...

Brother Cadfael must travel to the heart of a leper colony to root out the secret to a savage murder. Setting out for the Saint Giles leper colony outside Shrewsbury, Brother Cadfael has more pressing matters on his mind than the grand wedding coming to his abbey. But as fate would have it, Cadfael arrives at Saint Giles just as the nuptial party passes the colony's gates. He sees the fragile bride looking like a prisoner between her two stern guardians...

From shadowy intrigues at court and church, to battlefields where there are no victories, Maud and Stephen accept the destiny that forces them to surrender their love for a crown.

A monk must find a killer among a flood of religious pilgrims in this medieval mystery by the Edgar Award–winning author: “A series like no other” (TheSan Diego Union-Tribune).
In the year of our Lord 1141, civil war over England’s throne leaves a legacy of violence—and the murder of a knight dear to Brother Cadfael. And with gentle bud-strewn May, a flood of pilgrims comes to the celebration...

“Bodies and red herrings pile up in a satisfying way” in the Silver Dagger Award–winning medieval mystery series starring Brother Cadfael (Library Journal).
The year is 1142, and England is in the grip of civil war. Within the cloisters of the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, there begins a chain of events no less momentous than the upheavals of the outside world.
 
It starts with...

The sleuthing monk unravels a thorny case of murder in this “accomplished whodunit meticulously wrought with a wealth of medieval detail” (Booklist).
A late spring in 1142 brings dismay to the Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, for there may be no roses by June 22. On that day the young widow Perle must receive one white rose as rent for the house she has given to benefit the abbey, or the contract is...