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Dead Man's Ransom (The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael Book 9) Kindle Edition

by Ellis Peters (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,779 ratings
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Brother Cadfael must intervene when a prisoner exchange is interrupted by love and murder, in the Silver Dagger Award–winning medieval mystery series.

In February of 1141, men march home from war to Shrewsbury, but the captured sheriff Gilbert Prestcote is not among them. Elis, a young Welsh prisoner, is delivered to the Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul to begin a tale that will test Brother Cadfael’s sense of justice—and his heart.
 
By good fortune, it seems, the prisoner can be exchanged as Sheriff Prestcote’s ransom. What no one expects is that good-natured Elis will be struck down by cupid’s arrow. The sheriff’s own daughter holds him in thrall, and she, too, is blind with passion. But regaining her father means losing her lover. The sheriff, ailing and frail, is brought to the abbey’s infirmary—where he is murdered. Suspicion falls on the prisoner, who has only his Welsh honor to gain Brother Cadfael’s help. And Cadfael gives it, not knowing the truth will be a trial for his own soul.
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  1. Book 9 of 20
    The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael
  2. Print length
    273 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publisher
    MysteriousPress.com/Open Road
  6. Publication date
    August 5, 2014
  7. File size
    8699 KB
  8. Page Flip
    Enabled
  9. Word Wise
    Enabled
  10. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  11. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this mystery featuring 12th-century Brother Cadfael, a Welsh lord captured by the English is to be exchanged for Gilbert Prestcote, sheriff of Shropshire, who is held by the Welsh. When Prestcote dies in Welsh hands, Cadfael suspects murder and reveals the motives of the captors. PW commented: "Peters's local color is at its most engaging in the tangled family trees that sprawl across a contentious border."
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Revenge and romance are the twin forces that propel this intriguing entry in Peters's Brother Cadfael series (e.g., The Devil's Novice, Audio Reviews, LJ 3/1/94). The Benedictine monk brings his not inconsiderable gifts of detection to bear on the question of who murdered an exchanged prisoner of war. Along the way, Cadfael dispenses sage advice to a young fellow Welshman. Twelfth-century England comes to life through the author's skillfully crafted setting and narrator Patrick Tull's nearly ideal characterization of the Benedictine sleuth. Unfortunately, Tull sounds much the same when speaking as the younger Welshman, but his overall narration is a joy to the ear. Highly recommended for audio collections that do not already have the Chivers version of this mystery (Audio Reviews, LJ 3/1/93).
Sister M. Anna Falbo, Villa Maria Coll. Lib., Buffalo, N.Y.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00LUZNVSW
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ MysteriousPress.com/Open Road (August 5, 2014)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 5, 2014
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 8699 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 273 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,779 ratings

About the authors

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  1. Bert, Photos Coules

    Bert, Photos Coules

    Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    I wandered through a succession of jobs from fringe opera company manager to BBC radio drama producer-director before becoming a full time writer at the beginning of 1989.

    I work in a wide range of genres including science fiction, horror, comedy, romance and action-adventure but I'm especially associated with crime and detective stories: I was the head writer on the BBC’s unique project to dramatise the entire Sherlock Holmes canon and went on to create four further series of brand-new Holmes and Watson mysteries.

    As well as Conan Doyle, I've scripted versions of books by Isaac Asimov, Ian Rankin, Anne McCaffrey, John Buchan, Ellis Peters, Val McDermid, and Ursula le Guin, in addition to writing my own original plays and features.

    Along the way I've been fortunate enough to work with actors including Judi Dench, Oliver Reed, Tom Baker, Iain Glen, Peter Ustinov, Roger Daltrey, and many others.

    As well as radio I also write for TV and the stage.

    See more on the author's page
  2. Ellis Peters

    Ellis Peters

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    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    Edith Mary Pargeter, OBE, BEM (28 September 1913 – 14 October 1995), also known by her nom de plume Ellis Peters, was an English author of works in many categories, especially history and historical fiction, and was also honoured for her translations of Czech classics; she is probably best known for her murder mysteries, both historical and modern. She is well known for her medieval-detective series The Cadfael Chronicles.

    Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Photo by Meray (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.

    See more on the author's page
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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
1,779 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Sharon L Kaiser
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read
Reviewed in the United States on July 22, 2023
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Book club really liked this book!
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Aunt Peggy
4.0 out of 5 stars Punctuation problems in the e-book edition, first reported here in 2017, PLUS.....
Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2023
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As with all of the Brother Cadfael stories, this is good fun, interesting history, a bit formulaic but with enough new info along with familiar recurring characters to keep the reader satisfied with the extensive series.

BUT, as another reviewer wrote in 2017 and apparently this has STILL not been addressed by the publisher, this book (#9 in the series) has MANY distracting punctuation errors, mostly by way of misplaced and very unnecessary commas, and it needs thorough proof reading and correction. The number of errors has taken me out of the story repeatedly.

I don't recall this issue in the first 8 books, or at least not to this extreme. I'm hoping this isn't the wave of the remaining books in the series as I'm less than half-way through and it's really tiresome.

ADDING - I got farther into this story, but many plot devices seem to be echoes of ones that have been used in earlier Cadfael novels. Plus there seem to be an inordinate number of characters whose names are similar, either beginning with the letter E, or sounding / reading enough alike to be confusing. Finally, the plot is very confusing this time, and I have no sense at all of who did what and why anyone is upset. I'm now a little more than half-way into this but I quit. I've switched to a different book, and maybe in a couple of weeks I'll pick up book 10 in this series but leave this one abandoned.
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kokopelliwyo
5.0 out of 5 stars I love the Brother Cadfael series
Reviewed in the United States on June 4, 2018
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Wounded and captured in battle, Sheriff Gilbert Prestcotte is brought to the abbey in a planned ransom exchange of prisoners. Before the exchange can be completed, he is found dead. Initially it is assumed he succumbed to his injuries & illness, but Brother Cadfael realizes he was, in fact, murdered.

I love the Brother Cadfael series, and am enjoying revisiting it after several years. In addition to a good mystery, it provides an education on history, culture, and herbology. The Kindle edition, however, definitely needs some editing. Along with the occasional typo, for example, Owam instead of Owain, it appears that someone tripped while carrying a box of commas, and spilled most of them into this e-book. Multiple, commas, appear, where, they have, no, business, being. I know for a fact the original print version was not that way. Although it was annoying, and at times confusing, other than that, I enjoyed re-reading this story, particularly since it had been long enough that I couldn't remember who the killer was.
One person found this helpful
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amazon customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Good read
Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2022
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I always enjoy Cadfael mysteries. They are well written and the characters seem true to life. They are also morally upright, not excusing cruelty because of the time period, for example.
One person found this helpful
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J. Lesley
4.0 out of 5 stars The hostage swap should have been simple.
Reviewed in the United States on April 26, 2018
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Another excellent story in the Chronicles of Brother Cadfael series. This time it is 1141 and Sheriff Gilbert Prestcote along with his deputy sheriff, Hugh Beringar, have been fighting to keep the peace when the civil war comes too close to Shrewsbury. Unfortunately Prestcote is taken prisoner by the Welsh, alive but gravely injured. Before any arrangements can be made about a rescue a Benedictine nun comes from Godric's Ford to say their cell was raided. As a result they have a young Welshman who might be useful as a hostage swap. Serious problems arise when murder happens in the infirmary and Cadfael has to collect the evidence to solve the murder.

Even though this is book number nine in the series you can easily begin reading here to try it out. There are four very nice maps in the front of the book to ground you in the area where the story is taking place plus a Glossary of Terms and A Guide to Welsh Pronunciation at the back of the book. You will also get a preview of book ten, The Pilgrim of Hate. Ellis Peters writes good mystery puzzles along with interesting descriptions of the living conditions of the time. Characters are very well developed and established and it is always a real pleasure to find myself back in the abbey catching up on the lives of the continuing characters in the series.
8 people found this helpful
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ealovitt
5.0 out of 5 stars Star-crossed lovers and nuns who go forth to battle
Reviewed in the United States on June 4, 2017
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This 12th century mystery series by Ellis Peters take place in a fog of civil war, where the English and Welsh were raiding each other’s borders and supporting one or another claimant to the English throne: Empress Maud or King Stephen. In spite of the ongoing violence, the author suffuses her novels with a deep sense of peace and contentment in the monastic life. A monk from the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul at Shrewsbury, Brother Cadfael, the ex-Crusader-turned herbalist is her solver of murders and mysteries of the heart. Ellis weaves a rich tapestry of his daily life on the war-torn Welsh border.

This ninth novel in a series of 21 mysteries, "Dead Man's Ransom," begins in February of 1141 with disastrous tidings for the people of Shrewsbury. King Stephen has been captured by the forces of Empress Maud, and their own sheriff, Gilbert Prestcote has fallen into the hands of Welshmen allied to the Empress.

Aline, wife of Hugh Beringer, Shrewsbury's deputy sheriff is nervously waiting for her husband to return from battle. She tells Brother Cadfael:

"Those who go forth to the battle never return without holes in their ranks, like gaping wounds."

Luckily Hugh (one of this series' long-running characters) does return and soon he has a hostage of his own: a high-ranking Welshman named Elis ap Cynan who was captured during a raid on a nearby convent.

Hugh Beringar dispatches Brother Cadfael into Wales to negotiate an exchange of prisoners: Elis for Sheriff Gilbert Prestcote.
Meanwhile, back at the castle, Elis and Prestcote's daughter, Melicent fall in love with one another, even though Melicent knows her father will never consent to her betrothal to a Welshman.

When the hostage swap goes horribly wrong, Brother Cadfael must solve a murder, and unite not one, but two sets of star-crossed lovers.

One of my favorite characters, the doughty Sister Magdelan (formerly Avice of Thornbury--see  The Leper of Saint Giles (The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael Book 5) ) plays an important role in "Dead Man's Ransom." After saving her convent from Welsh raiders, she teams up with Brother Cadfael to unite the young lovers. All in a day's work for my two favorite Peters' characters.
7 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Star crossed and young love
Reviewed in Australia on September 4, 2019
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At the crux of this story - would the death which happens result from a desire to have the apparently unattainable? Can a momentary lapse be overlooked.? Are there shades of guilt? Read on...
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MatildaSK
5.0 out of 5 stars excellent plot as ever
Reviewed in Germany on March 24, 2015
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Ich habe die 9. Story nun ebenfalls zum zweiten Mal (in der Originalsprache) gelesen und mir erneut ein besonderes englisches MA-Lesevergnügen gegönnt - dieses Mal in der digitalen Version auf meinem Kindle. Leider war dieses Vergnügen z.T. heftig getrübt - nämlich durch falsche Zeichensetzung: Vor allem ab Chapter 10 ist an Stelle eines Bindestrichs häufig ein Komma gesetzt (Bsp.: statt saddle-cloth steht saddle, cloth; statt deep-cut and rocky bed steht deep, cut and rocky bed usw.) Das ist anfangs noch verwirrend, wird aber zunehmend ärgerlich, v.a. da es bis zu dreimal pro Seite auftritt!!
Bitte, etwas mehr Sorgfalt bei der Digitalisierung!!
2 people found this helpful
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Bootsy (Shell)
4.0 out of 5 stars Great engaging story
Reviewed in Canada on March 17, 2016
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All the Cadfael books are well written and historically accurate. I love this series
One person found this helpful
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Mrs. Bruce
4.0 out of 5 stars A good, easy read with wonderful characters
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 26, 2014
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I have most of the Cadfael books and have read them several times. They are rather
like putting on a pair of old slippers! Normally they follow the same pattern. There is
fighting between King Stephen and Empress Maud; there is a young man who takes one
look at a beautiful girl and falls instantly in love - but true love never runs exactly to plan!
There is always a murder or two and clever Cadfael manages to solve it.

It is just BECAUSE I know this is going to happen and it will not be too taxing on my brain,
that I enjoy these books so much. Some are better than others, but this is a 4 star one,
in my opinion. I love the character of Cadfael and the other Brothers who are so well
portrayed by the author. No sex, no bad language and no graphic violence make these books
a very easy and enjoyable read. I recommend them.
3 people found this helpful
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Barry M Melbourne
4.0 out of 5 stars the plot develops and again I am enjoying a damn good read. However the Kindle version I was reading ...
Reviewed in Australia on December 18, 2014
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The plot and characters were, as usual, well crafted and the story background of England in the 12 century was intriguing.
As I read each Ellis Peters I expect there to be too much similarity in the plot with the books I've read earlier but it is never the case: the interest is always there, the plot develops and again I am enjoying a damn good read. However the Kindle version I was reading was spoilt by, of all things, the punctuation! It was as though the Kindle decided it had an excessive number of commas ,,,,,,
on hand so it scattered them randomly throughout the book. It was frequent and disconcerting to read. Has anyone else experienced this?
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