Devil's Novice [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Ellis Peters (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1985

A Brother Cadfael mediaeval whodunnit. It is 1141 and civil war continues to rage. The Sheriff of Shropshire and the king are taken prisoner by his enemies. An exchange of valuable prisoners is arranged, but before the exchange is completed, a murder takes place.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this mystery featuring 12th-century Brother Cadfael, a Welsh lord captured by the English is to be exchanged for Gilbert Prestcote, sheriff of Shropshire, who is held by the Welsh. When Prestcote dies in Welsh hands, Cadfael suspects murder and reveals the motives of the captors. PW commented: "Peters's local color is at its most engaging in the tangled family trees that sprawl across a contentious border."
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

'A more atttractive and prepossessing detective it would be hard to find.' SUNDAY TIMES --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Ulverscroft Large Print (August 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0708913423
• ISBN-13: 978-0708913420
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,163,770 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Heavy Price, July 9, 2007

By 

R. Chaffey "beckahi" (Chicago) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dead Man's Ransom (Mass Market Paperback)

Ellis Peters, the pseudonym for Edith Pargeter, has carved a special niche with the Brother Cadfael mysteries. She is able to bring to life twelfth-century England, mixing monastic daily life with the very real threat of murder and mayhem, which there seems to be a lot of in the town of Shrewsbury. "Dead Man's Ransom" is the ninth chronicle of Cadfael's sojourns into sleuthing and it offers readers a unique mystery.

With border clashes an ongoing problem between the English and Welsh, a young Welsh prisoner is brought to Shrewsbury. Hugh Beringar is now in charge of the town since his sheriff has been captured by the Welsh. He hopes to exchange his prisoner for his sheriff, which he manages to do, but not before complications arise. For the sheriff's daughter falls in love with the prisoner, and they know that her father's return will tear them apart. Shortly after the sheriff returns, he is found murdered in the abbey where he had been recovering from his wounds. The likeliest suspect is the young prisoner who had everything to gain if the sheriff was out of his way, and now he must try to clear his name on foreign soil.

"Dead Man's Ransom" is a quick-paced read and an interesting mystery that may keep readers guessing. At times Peters' prose is weighed down with too much effort at capturing twelfth-century English turns of phrases, but Brother Cadfael is a unique detective and one that keeps readers interested.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ellis Peters triumphs again!, May 3, 2000

By 

Billy J. Hobbs "Bill Hobbs" (Tyler, TX USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dead Man's Ransom (Mass Market Paperback)

In the tenth installment of the ever-so-popular Brother Cadfael series, author Ellis Peters proves a winner once again with "Dead Man's Ransom."

Set in the year 1141, civil war runs amok in Britain between King Stephen and the Empress Maud, and it appears that the end of the twelve year old struggle is in sight. The war has taken its toll in many areas, as civil wars do, and the people are quite weary of it all. Maud's forces, however, now have captured the king himself. The sheriff of Shropshire, too, has been taken captive. This means, in those days, that in all likelihood an exchange of prisoners will take place.

Alas, one of the captives is now dead and it is our Brother Cadfael who senses that, indeed, it is murder, and, just as naturally as Peters would have it, it is he who is given the responsibility to solve the case and to try to bring about the release of the king.

Brother Cadfael is the former crusader now a Benedictine monk, who specializes in herbal medicines, solving murders, and compassion. Peters (Edith Pargeter) has developed her Cadfael through this series of medieval whodunits into a man of the cloth easily admired and respected. He is a man of firm, and devout, principles; a man who seems to carry the weight of the shire on his own Welch-born shoulders!

Peters has made grand the area of Shropshire, and especially the town of Shrewsbury there on the Welch borders. She has also created an exciting family of literary characters to complement Cadfael: Hugh Beringar (deputy sheriff of the shire and Cadfael's closest friend) and his wife Aline, Abbot Radulfus (the venerable patriarch of the abbey, and other members of the abbey. It is not essential that this series be read from the start (with "A Morbid Taste for Bones"), as this book could easily be read first and it would still hold up as a book on its own; however, readers generally will want to read them in order, as the presentation of character, of historical events, of character-interaction does show development in the series' genealogy. Peters died a few years ago and apparently there are no more Cadfael episodes aside from the twenty or so published, but each of the books extant bring the reader a treasure of reading adventures.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good addition, August 24, 2002

By 

lady victoria "vickl1" (Lilburn, Ga. United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dead Man's Ransom (Mass Market Paperback)

I am an avid fan of the Cadfael series and I enjoyed this book very much. The ending is terrific, though some people may not agree with me. Am deducting one star because of the character of Millicent Prescote. She is extremely disloyal and changeable. I truly wondered at the end if her marriage will be a happy one.