The Devil's Novice

CWA Diamond Dagger Award–Winning Author

Outside the pale of the Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, in September of 1140, a priestly emissary for King Stephen has been reported missing. But inside the pale, what troubles Brother Cadfael is a proud, secretive nineteen-year-old novice.

Brother Cadfael has never seen two men more estranged than the Lord of Aspley and Meriet, the son he coldly delivers to the abbey to begin a religious vocation. Meriet, meek by day, is so racked by dreams at night that his howls earn him the nickname "the Devil's Novice." Shunned and feared, Meriet is soon linked to the missing priestly emissary's dreadful fate. Only Brother Cadfael believes in Meriet's innocence, and only the good sleuth can uncover the truth before a boy's pure passion, not evil intent, leads a novice to the noose.

Before CSI and Law & Order, there was Brother Cadfael, "wily veteran of the Crusades" ( Los Angeles Times). His knowledge of herbalism, picked up in the Holy Land, and his skillful observance of human nature are blessings in dire situations, and earned Ellis Peters a Crime Writers' Association Diamond Dagger Award. This long-running and much-loved series went on to be adapted for stage, radio, and television.