There are 20 books in the The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael series. The newest book is Brother Cadfael's Penance which came out in 1994.

In the gentle Shrewsbury spring of 1140 the midnight matins at the Benedictine abbey suddenly reverberates with an unholy sound - a hunt in full cry. Pursued by a drunken mob, the quarry is running for its life. When the frantic creature bursts into the nave to claim sanctuary, Brother…
When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).
Brother Cadfael discovers a murder amid the wreckage of Shrewsbury Castle in this mystery series featuring “a colorful and authentic medieval background” (Publishers Weekly).

In the summer of 1138, war between King Stephen and the Empress Maud takes Brother Cadfael from the quiet world of his garden into a battlefield…

3
Monk's Hood

Book cover of Monk's Hood

Gervase Bonel, with his wife and servants, is a guest of Shrewsbury Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul when he is suddenly taken ill. Luckily, the Abbey boasts the services of clever and kindly Brother Cadfael, a skilled herbalist. Cadfael hurries to the man's bedside, only to be confronted…

4
Saint Peter's Fair

Book cover of Saint Peter's Fair
In the twelfth century, merchants gather at a summertime fair-but when one of them is found dead in a river, a crime-solving monk must step in.

St. Peter's Fair is a grand, festive event, attracting merchants from across England and beyond. There is a pause in the civil war racking…
It is winter 1139 and the tranquil life in the monastery gardens in Shrewsbury is again interrupted by violence. Raging civil war has sent refugees fleeing north from Worcester. Among them are two orphans from a noble family, a boy of thirteen and an eighteen year old girl of great…

8
The Devil's Novice

Book cover of The Devil's Novice
Outside the pale of the abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, in September of the year of our Lord 1140, a priestly emissary for King Stephen has been reported missing. But inside the pale, Brother Cadfael's attention is turned on Meriet, a proud, secretive, nineteen-year-old novice who has been…

9
Dead Man's Ransom

Book cover of Dead Man's Ransom
In the February of the year of our Lord 1141, men march home from war to Shrewsbury, but the captured Sheriff Gilbert Prestcote is not among them. Elis, a young Welsh prisoner, is, and he is delivered to the Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul to begin a tale…

12
The Raven in the Foregate

Book cover of The Raven in the Foregate
It is Christmas, A.D. 1141, Abbot Radulfus returns from London, bringing with him a priest for the vacant living of Holy Cross, also known as the Foregate. The new priest is a man of presence, learning, and discipline, but he lacks humility and the common touch. When he is found…

13
The Rose Rent

Book cover of The Rose Rent
A late spring in 1142 brings dismay to the Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, for there may be no roses by June the twenty-second. On that day the young widow Perle must receive one white rose as rent for the house she has given to benefit the abbey…

14
The Hermit of Eyton Forest

Book cover of The Hermit of Eyton Forest
The year is 1142, and all England is in the iron grip of a civil war. And within the sheltered cloisters of the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, there begins a chain of events no less momentous than the political upheavals of the outside world. First, there…

15
The Confession of Brother Haluin

Book cover of The Confession of Brother Haluin
In the winter of 1142, snow blankets the Bendictine Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul causing damage to the guest hall, and the brothers must repair its roof before the danger worsens. The treacherously icy conditions are to prove nigh fatal for Brother Haulin when he slips from the…

16
The Heretic's Apprentice

Book cover of The Heretic's Apprentice

In the summer of 1143, William of Lythwood returns to Shrewsbury in a coffin... his pilgrimage at last at an end. William's young attendant, Elave, accompanies the body and sets about trying to secure a burial place on the grounds of the Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, despite…

17
The Potter's Field

Book cover of The Potter's Field
The year is 1143, and once again Brother Cadfael is forced to abandon the tranquility of his herb garden and use his knowledge of human nature to solve a murder- this time frighteningly close to home. When a newly ploughed field, recently given to the Abbey yields that body of…
In the summer of 1144, a strange calm has settled over England. The armies of King Stephen and Empress Maud have temporarily exhausted each other. Brother Cadfael considers peace a blessing, but a little excitement never comes amiss to a former soldier and Cadfael is delighted to accompany his young…

19
The Holy Thief

Book cover of The Holy Thief
In the chilly, damp Autumn of 1144, two groups of visitors seek the hospitality of the Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, and Brother Cadfael fears the trouble has come in with them. Among the first arrivals is Brother Tutilo, a young Benedictine with a guileless face and- to…

20
Brother Cadfael's Penance

Book cover of Brother Cadfael's Penance
And in this year of our Lord, 1145, now drawing to its close, chaotic events had seemed to be offering promise, however faint as yet, that even the two cousins battling wearily for the throne must despair of force and look around for another way of settling disputes.