This book doesn't come up in a title search, even if you combine a keyword from the title and the author's name. I had to search for it by ISBN #. [2015--this seems to have been corrected]Up until the middle of this book in the series, the Sheriff of Shropshire is Gilbert Prestcote. He's not particularly adequate. He's dour, he's prejudiced, and he sometimes takes advantage of built-in cruelties in the law to 'solve' problems that could have been solved a lot less ruthlessly. Would a man who accidentally killed another in a drunken (and fair) fight be convicted of murder in our society? It's less than likely. And he wouldn't have been convicted in Wales, either, at the time. He'd have been fined severely; he or his family would have to pay 'galanas'. But he wouldn't have been killed himself.But it's not just the enemies Prestcote has acquired along the way (some of them reaching back for generations) that have made him an unsatisfactory Sheriff. Often, in earlier books, people feel pressured to solve cases in haste before Prestcote gets back from wherever he's off to this time, because experience shows Prestcote will just take whoever's nearest, and not worry about niggling details.The position of Sheriff is not an elected one at this time. If it were, most people would have voted for the Deputy Sheriff, Hugh Beringar of Maesbury, who's a lot more careful to find the right suspect. But even he often has to turn a blind eye to achieve the spirit rather than the letter of the law.In this book things change. In the previous book (The Devil's Novice), a battle against the Earl of Lincoln becomes imperative, if England is going to stay unified. The abbey doesn't want any battles at all, and they meet to pray for better counsel. But there's not much hope of it. So by early February, 1141, the war party are off to attack Lincoln (and his ally and brother, Chester).And the battle is a disaster. Not just for King Stephen's side. The Northerners also suffer (the citizens of Lincoln, for example, are abused for backing Stephen against the Earl). And the capture of King Stephen is a major blow for his own side, but it doesn't necessarily improve Empress Maud's position, either. People are still reluctant to support her, at least partly because she's so intolerant of halfhearted support.In Shropshire, however, the locals are more concerned about the injury and capture of Gilbert Prestcote. Since he was in the part of the battlefield that was overrun by the Welsh of Powys under Cadwaladr (brother, but no very obedient brother, to Owain Gwynedd), there's hope he may be ransomed. But in trade for whom?Enter Avice of Thornberry (the longtime mistress of a nobleman from The Leper of St Giles), to the rescue once again. Now renamed Sister Magdalen (why should she deprive her innocent sisters of the notion they're rescuing her from infamy?), she explains how she and the foresters repulsed an attack by a band of Welshmen from Powys. And have they got a prisoner worthy of exchange? You bet they have! Elis ap Cynan makes his entrance tied up on horseback, favoring one cheek in the saddle, and cursing his captors in Welsh, in such an even voice that those who don't speak Welsh don't take offense.A royal relative is surely adequate ransom for a Sheriff, so negotiations begin. The process is complicated by many things, one of which is NOT the reluctance of Owain Gwynedd to improve relations with Shropshire. Owain Gwynedd is heartily praised in this whole series, as an intelligent, wise, and foresighted man.But there are other problems, involving fosterage and its relationships, child betrothal, and the fact that Elis is a sucker for a tall, pale girl with spun-sugar hair...who happens to be Gilbert Prestcote's daughter. Elis, the eternal optimist, thinks these problems can be easily solved. Melicent isn't so sure. All in all, there are a lot of wrung hearts when the badly injured Lord Prestcote is escorted home by courteous Welshmen. And the matter is not eased when Prestcote dies, and it's proven to be murder. And all along, there are the Welsh of Powys, still out for loot, and still smarting for their defeat at Godric's Ford...The rescue of the cattleman Anion, who aspires to his proper status as his father's son in Wales, is another complication. I don't think it's much of a spoiler to say that it's happily resolved, since he wasn't much of a suspect to begin with. Even other suspects point out that one of the reasons he fled into Wales was that, being without powerful supporters in Shropshire, he couldn't get a fair hearing there, and fled for fear he should prove the convenient nearest.
Dead Man's Ransom is a very thought-provoking whodunit, presenting both Cadfael and the Deputy Sheriff, Hugh Beringar, with quite a conundrum. Two Welsh foster-brothers, as close as twins but as dissimilar as two young whelps could be in nature, are embroiled in a love-triangle that ends in murder. The murder victim, an exchange prisoner taken by the Welsh during a battle for Lincoln in the ongoing civil war between King Stephen and Empress Maud in 1141, is none other than the Sheriff of Shrewsbury, the overlord of Hugh Beringar. Sheriff Gilbert Prescott was badly wounded during the battle for Lincoln and has only just arrived home to be nursed back to health at Shrewsbury Abbey, when he is discovered dead in his bed. The man was mothered with a rich cloth that neither Cadfael nor his fellow Benedictine monks can trace anywhere in the Abbey's grounds. As Cadfael goes in search of murder weapon and the truth, the world around him begins to implode.Civil war comes closer than ever to Shrewsbury, threatening the town and outlying farmsteads; cottages and remote farms are burned, the nuns at Godric's Ford come under attack. Matters are made worse by frequent raiding parties from across the border, as Welsh princelings and their warlords are flexing their muscle to see how far they dare push. When the news of Gilbert Prescott's death spreads and reaches the ears of the Earl of Chester and one Welsh warlord, Deputy Sheriff Hugh Beringar and his new helpmate, young Alan Herbard, have their hands full to keep order in the Shire.With King Stephen taken prisoner at Lincoln and now cooling his heels at Bristol and Empress Maud pressing the Archbishop of Canterbury hard to invest her with crown and kingdom, the stakes have never been higher for Cadfael and Hugh Beringar to find solutions that will keep peace with all, including God and their own conscience.This is a cracking adventure story, where the solving of the murder is almost incidental - there's just so much more going on politically and romantically, threatening the lives of all those characters we have come to love. Ellis Peters presents to our careful inspection a few new heroes and heroines, all deserving of our affection.At the end the author, in the guise of her wonderful creation Cadfael, asks: can one death make up for another? Is justice truly served by snuffing out a promising young life, when the life that was taken belonged to a sick old man, a questionable soul at that, one who never hesitated to meter out harsh judgement without mercy or too great a thought for right and wrong? As always, Cadfael manages everything wisely and for the best, this time with a little help from a much appreciated, if unexpected quarter. It's a wonderful book and a great spring read, when the first green froth appears on trees and fields, when birds are chirping and you're itching to go for long walks again, looking forward to your very own mini-adventure in the forest.
What do You think about Dead Man's Ransom (1997)?
I thought the central relationship of this was fascinating, though of course my 21st-century brain was convinced that Eliud was going to turn out to be in love with his foster brother Elis. Didn't happen, and I was a tiny bit disappointed not to get to read how Brother Cadfael would have dealt with that. The weird thing, also, about reading in whatever order I feel like is that the dead man in this book features prominently in a lot of other books, and I want to go back and check all of the later books, because I'm SURE I read a later book that he was in. But maybe not.
—Anne
Le trame delle Indagini di Fratello Cadfael sono sempre uguali, eppure Ellis Peters è una brava scrittrice e riesce a innovare.Stavolta siamo alle prese con l'omicidio dello Sceriffo Prestcote: stavolta Hugh Beringar deve indagare in prima persona, e può finalmente farsi aiutare apertamente dall'amico Cadfael. L'indagine non è molto complicata, le false piste vengono subitaneamente scartate dai due e l'omicida viene rapidamente identificato. Come al solito fa tutto il monaco (lo Sceriffo è impeg
—Francesco
1st Recorded Reading: October 2003The Battle of Lincoln in the north of England on February 2, 1141, is historical fact; the forces of King Stephen of England fought the forces of Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester (the half brother of the Empress Matilda) and those of the Earl of Chester, while on the flank was a mass of Welsh troops led by Madog ap Maredudd, Lord of Powys, and Cadwaladr ap Gruffydd, the brother of Owain, Prince of Gwynedd, who was neutral in the Civil War between Stephen and Matilda. The battle went badly for King Stephen; his forces lost the battle, and he himself was captured. So much for history; in fiction, among the men who were with Stephen was the Sheriff of Shropshire, Gilbert Prestcote, and he is injured in the battle and captured by the Welsh. Naturally, since Brother Cadfael is himself Welsh (his full name is technically Cadfael ap Meilyr ap Dafydd), he is the front man for communicating with the Welsh, and ends up solving a murder and making true love run smooth (or smoother) for four young people. For those not wishing to read further, this was a good book, although a tad predictable.News comes that the Welsh, on their way home from Lincoln, chose to raid the Benedictine convent at Godric’s Ford; a young Welsh man is captured, and turns out to be Elis ap Cynan, a distant cousin of Owain Gwynedd. He is brought back to Shrewsbury, and while negotiations are set in place to see if he can be exchanged for Gilbert Prestcote, Elis sees and falls in mutal love with Melicent Prestcote, Gilbert’s daughter. This is unfortunate for two reasons; her father hates the Welsh (even more so now, presumably, having been beaten by them), and Elis has been betrothed since infancy to Christina, back home at the court of Gwynedd. The exchange is agreed upon (with Cadfael, nothing loath to take a trip to Wales, making the arrangements with Owain Gwynedd), and in due time Gilbert Prestcote is brought home to Shrewsbury in honor on a litter (having been quite badly injured in the battle, and nowhere near recovered in full health), along with Elis’s foster brother Eluid, who will, once Prestcote is settled back in Shrewsbury, return to Wales with Elis. Just as they are about to return to Wales, the obligatory murder occurs; and Brother Cadfael must determine who has committed the murder, and why, before the prisoner exchange can be concluded.As this is one of the Brother Cadfael mysteries that I had previously read (back in October of 2003), I remembered some of the plot; but I think I may have figured out whodunit even so, before Brother Cadfael made all clear. But this was still a good book of the series, and I will now move to the next previously read book in the series.
—Kathryn
