The Sanctuary Sparrow (The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael Book 7)

This time it's a hired "jongleur" -- a kind of all-purpose entertainer who does juggling, acrobatics, and even plays musical instruments on occasion. When he is thrown out of the wedding feast of the son of a rich goldsmith without his pay and the goldsmith turns up beaten over the head and robbed, blame falls on the entertainer, who flees into the abbey for sanctuary.

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 seventh novel in a series of 21 mysteries, "The Sanctuary Sparrow," begins in the spring of 1140, as the monks of Shrewsbury Abbey are peacefully chanting midnight office:"The height of the vault, the solid stone of the pillars and walls, took up the sound of Brother Anselm’s voice, and made of it a disembodied magic, high in air. Beyond where the candle-light reached and shadows ended, there was darkness, the night within, the night without. A benign night, mild, still and silent."But the peace of the evening is shattered when a mob bursts into the church in pursuit of a young man, who is desperately seeking sanctuary at the parish altar:"Three steps to the parish altar lay sprawled some poor wretch flattened beneath a surge of trampling, battering foes, all hacking away with fist and boot, happily in such a tangle that comparatively few of their kicks and blows got home. All Cadfael could see of the quarry was a thin arm and a fist hardly bigger than a child’s, that reached out of the chaos to grip the edge of the altar-cloth with life-and-death desperation."Sanctuary law was taken very seriously by the 12th century Church. According to an article in 'Slate,' "During the existence of English sanctuary laws, which lasted until 1624, countless thousands of felons claimed sanctuary. Shoemaker claims that 'in some counties as many as half of the recorded felonies would end in a sanctuary claim rather than a trial.'"The hunted man turned out to be a poor itinerant jongleur named Liliwin and his pursuers, a mob of wedding guests who believed he had attacked and robbed their host. Abbot Radulfus agrees to shelter Liliwin for forty days and Brother Cadfael patches him up.As any reader who has followed this series thus far knows, Brother Cadfael takes an interest in the underdog, and he is soon convinced of Liliwin's innocence. Since he has a patient in the house that the jongleur supposedly robbed, Brother Cadfael decides to do a bit of investigating on his own, and soon finds himself pitted against death, love gone wrong, and murder.I am sure that if you've read this far into the Brother Cadfael mysteries, you will want to continue to the end. It will be a very satisfying and worthwhile journey.

I have come to really like Cadfael. I like his brand of disobedience (nothing that can be described, this successful). But, this book, it seemed like fluff.

Another good entry in this excellent Medieval Mystery series set in Shrewsbury, England, near the border of Wales. Ellis Peters (actually Edith Mary Pargeter) created this delightful mystery series centered on Brother Cadfael, a Benedictine monk. Years ago, I enjoyed the PBS series (with Derek Jacobi as Cadfael); years later, it is now time to read some of the novels. Brother Cadfael is revealed as an middle-aged monk (a former veteran soldier) who works with plants and so is well-versed in herbs ~ thus a healer.On the whole, the Chronicles of Brother Cadfael series can be read in any order. However, I would suggest reading the first ("A Morbid Taste for Bones”) and the second books ("One Corpse Too Many") first to lay the background for the rest of the series. Peters has a good sense of time and place, as well as the religious order. The plot was nicely planned, especially with some twists and surprises which kept the reader guessing. I did not sense who the killer was until near the end. If you like Medieval or historical mysteries, then you should give this well written series a try.

Book 7 of the Brother Cadfael series doesn’t disappoint. It transports the reader to 12th century England. It’s a good mystery with interesting characters.Highly recommended, but of course read the first 6 (plus the prequel) of the series before this one.

Cadael helps the poor and hopeless and in the end they prosper. It took me a while before I could figure this one out

I have loved the the wonderful writing style of Edith Pargeter's Brother Cadfael series written under the pen name "Ellis Peters." I have read them all, but now that Amazon has been putting them on sale, I have begun collecting them to have around for my grandkids to read. I rate them all at least 4 stars, but I will put 5 star ratings on the ones I like best.

This seventh book of the Brother Cadfael series takes place over seven days in Shrewsbury. I love the opening with the brothers midnight Mass interrupted by Liliwin, a traveling entertainer besot by an angry wedding mob. They accuse of theft and murder. He seeks, and is granted, sanctuary, at the Abby until the whole thing can be sorted out.It took me awhile to figure out who the murderer actually was. Ellis did a wonderful job of hiding the clues up until the very end. She does an outstanding job of representing life in the 12th century. Particularly, in household duties of the wife and what type of authority she has.If you've read any of the other Brother Cadfael books, you won't be disappointed with this one.

Love Cadfael and this was a great book

Last novel needed to complete my Cadfael chronicles!

First rate: historical who done-itsI remain a huge fan of the style and contentAlways enjoyed Derek Jacobi as Brother CadfaelBought the DVDsBooks are more detailed, with a touch more grit

Great series. Well written and historically accurate. This series is a classic

I have read better by this author