The Hermit of Eyton Forest (The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael Book 14)

The year is 1142, and England is torn by civil war. At the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, a chain of significant events unfolds within its cloisters. Richard Ludel, Lord of Eyton, has died. His ten-year-old son and heir, also named Richard, attends the abbey as a pupil. The boy resists surrendering his newly inherited powers to Dionysia, his angry and formidable grandmother. A hermit named Cuthred, who is protected by Lady Dionysia, arrives as a stranger to the region. Cuthred's young companion Hyacinth befriends young Richard. Despite Cuthred's reputation for holiness, his arrival coincides with a series of troubles for the monks. When a body is discovered in Eyton forest, Brother Cadfael applies his understanding of human nature to identify a murderer.