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    St. Peter's Fair
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    St. Peter's Fair
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    St. Peter's Fair
    Audiobook7 hours

    St. Peter's Fair

    Published by Blackstone Audio

    Narrated by Johanna Ward

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    In the summer of 1139, there is a pause in the civil war racking the country, and St. Peter’s Fair promises to bring some much-needed gaiety to Shrewsbury-that is, until the dead body of a wealthy merchant is found in the river Severn. Was Thomas of Bristol the victim of murderous thieves? If so, why were his valuables abandoned nearby?

    Brother Cadfael, that shrewd but kindly monk, offers to help the merchant’s lovely niece, Emma. But as he searches for the killer, Thomas of Bristol’s wares are ransacked and two more men are murdered. Emma almost certainly knows more than she is telling, and others will soon discover this, too. Cadfael desperately races to save the young girl, knowing that in a country at war with itself, betrayal can come from any direction-and even good intentions can kill.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBlackstone Audio
    Release dateJul 15, 2010
    ISBN9780786112388
    Unavailable
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    Reviews for St. Peter's Fair

    4/5

    403 ratings28 reviews

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    • 4/5
      It is time for the annual merchant's fair but England is still in turmoil over the issue of King Stephen and the Empress Maud. Shrewsbury still has scars from the recent battle of last year (see One corpse too many) and the townsmen need help, asking Abbot Radulfus for the proceeds of the St. Pater's Fair to come for needed repairs, especially since shop owners need to close for the fair. Of course there is a body found and intrigue aplenty for Brother Cadfael and Hugh Beringar to sort out. Ellis Peters at her best!
    • 4/5
      After the new Abbot refuses to share the profits of the St. Peter's Fair with the townsfolk, Brother Cadfael is drawn into another murder investigation.
    • 4/5
      After the new Abbot refuses to share the profits of the St. Peter's Fair with the townsfolk, Brother Cadfael is drawn into another murder investigation.
    • 5/5
      I really enjoyed this Cadfael volume. Events happened quickly. Although there were a few obvious bluffs, there were still some surprises. I suppose the rivalry for the throne between two disputed heirs is not new fodder for plots, still I’ve not read too much about Steven and Maud.
    • 4/5
      Consistently excellent and historically accurate reads of a Shrewsbury monk solving crimes in the middle ages. When the annual fair sets up in Shrewsbury, the local townsmen ask the church for a share of the profits after the previous year's loss in battle. When the new abbot refuses, the sons of the villagers again attempt to get recognition by approaching a wealthy merchant, a fight breaks out and later that night, the merchant ends of dead. But that isn't the end, the merchant's body and vessel is searched and happenings unfold that put the merchant's niece at risk. Brother Cadfael and sheriff's deputy and friend of Cadfael, Hugh Beringar search for answers.
    • 4/5
      Another good mystery about Brother Cadfael, with lots of history sprinkled about the story to give it a ring of authenticity. I thought I knew the murderer, then I wasn't sure, then I found out...love mysteries that don't make it too easy to guess. A keeper.
    • 4/5
      what a creep.
    • 3/5
      Another fun romp through murder and mayhem with our favorite Brother Cadfael.
    • 4/5
      A weekend’s fair takes place, leading to some townspeople protesting at the profits going to the monastery. A murder of one of the tradespeople takes place, and wise Cadfael quietly investigates. A nice mixture of cosyish murder-mystery with a background of medieval political intrigue.
    • 5/5
      Everyone loves going to fairs especially merchants who make lots of money but when a merchant who is a noble ends up dead, Cadfael suspects there is foul play. As Cadfael's investigation deepens, after another body shows up, he begins to suspect that the murderer is looking for something valuable. His suspicion leads him to the noble's niece who apparently holds the key & so does the murderer. When the murderer kidnaps the niece, time is of essence to get her back.
    • 4/5
      Mystery, political intrigue, and murder go to the fair. Brother Cadfael and High Beringar suss out the truth when a visiting merchant is stabbed and a local boy stands accused of murder. Another fun tale of the soldier-turned-monk who solves murders between tending his herbarium and attending prayers. The author’s style is reminiscent of a medieval manuscript which adds to the period feel of the work.
    • 4/5
      Re-read. Set in 12th Century Shrewsbury, this is the year after the siege, and the town is suffering from the aftermath of that event. The businesses of the town resent the Abbey's fair and the tolls paying to the Abbey when the town is not allowed to profit from trading over the period of the fair. The events revolve around the interation between the town, Abbey and the tradesmen that come from far and wide. In the midst of civil war, tradesmen can travel and carry messages from one party to another, in this case from the party of the Empress to Ranulf of Chester - but that's only revealed later. There are few troubles at this year's fair, but they revolve around the Wine merchant from bristol and his lovely daughter. There is a murder committed, and a suspect conveniently to hand. However, things are not always as they appear, and there is danger to be borne and a rescue to attempt before the story unfolds itself. A pacy story, with well drawn characters I do like the time spent with Cadfael.
    • 4/5
      Ok, that was a good one. Suspenseful climax, and some nice moral and theological musings from Cadfael.
    • 4/5
      The fourth story about Brother Cadfael in the English village of Shrewsbury in 1139. It is the time of a three day fair in honor of St. Peter and Cadfael is called upon to translate for a fellow Welshman. It gives him a chance to be among the 'civilians' and enjoy a little life outside the abbey. Unfortunately, the niece of one of the merchants reports him missing the night before the fair is to begin and he is found the next day in the river, completely stripped of clothes. More mysterious events draw Cadfael in to help the sheriff discover why these things were happening at a time where the worst thing to happen should be a little drunken brawling. Cadfael brings experience from his previous life as a soldier and a sailor to bolster his knowledge of the medicinal uses of herbs. He is perfectly at home in the calm and structured life of the abbey but is also happy (if not eager) to step out and temporarily join outside life. This series is wonderful.
    • 4/5
      The annual Fair of St. Peter in Shrewsbury leads to a riot over he abbey's claim to dues from the fair. A visiting merchant is found dead. It turns out to involve the politics of the war between Stephen and Matilda. The time pressure for a solution comes from the fact that the fair will end in a few days and the suspects will disperse,
    • 4/5
      Six-word review: Crime and intrigue challenge medieval sleuth.Extended review: Brother Cadfael unravels the crimes and unmasks the culprits in this tale of misdeeds and mayhem in the neighborhood of a Benedictine abbey in 1139. His active participation in the pursuit of truth and justice makes for a livelier tale than its predecessors. Several appealing characters return and a couple of interesting ones join the cast to add dimensions to the fourth in a series of short, lightweight, and entertaining mysteries.
    • 5/5
      Ellis Peters had a tremendous gift for prose.
    • 3/5
      St Peter’s Fair, Ellis Peters' fourth Brother Cadfael mystery is set in the summer of 1139. Shrewsbury is still recovering from the attack by the army of King Stephen the previous summer. A pause in the war offers Shrewsbury's townsfolk hope that the upcoming fair will be successful, bringing to its town traders from all over England and even the continent, and buyers eager to sample the goods they sell. Enter an important merchant, Thomas of Bristol with his lovely daughter, Emma. Thomas almost immediately becomes involved in a brawl involving some of the town's youths over what the latter see as injustice in the paying of rents to the abbey with nothing for the town to help repair the damage done in the siege of the previous year. Not long afterwards, Thomas is found murdered; the leader of the young men, Phillip Corviser, is immediately suspect, since he has no alibi for the time of the murder. Of course, at the urging of Emma, the Abbott and his own suspicion, Brother Cadfael begins his own investigation. As with the other Cadfael “cozy” mysteries, this should be seen as a fun easy read—not an intellectual tome. The real strength of the book and the series is Cadfael. He’s had an interesting life before entering the monastery and in many ways relishes the quiet routine of a monk. However, his sharp and endlessly curious mind paired with a strong sense of compassion and conscience draw him into the intrigues that seem to happen on a quite regular schedule at or near the Abbey. A strong 3 out of 5 stars.
    • 4/5
      Another lovely historical mystery, blending the two nicely, and bringing in political and religious concerns, with a light touch. I can't understand the handful of reviews I've read that think the Brother Cadfael books are too heavy, the prose too dense. It's nice light reading, as far as I'm concerned. But then, I read actual medieval texts for fun, so a modern historical novel is unlikely to faze me...

      The thing that bothers me, slightly, four books in, is that every book pairs up the female characters. Granted, most women would've married, and it's not a though the characters become less awesome for being paired up, but it's starting to become very predictable.

      Still, I quite liked the characters, this time round, and was glad to see more of Hugh and Aline.
    • 3/5
      Once more, Ellis Peters gives us a vivid window into medieval life and customs as we enjoy all that is associated with an annual fair given on the grounds of the Benedictine Abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul at Shrewsbury, England. We learn of the ancient charter giving the abbey the right to the proceeds of a three day fair which is the source of a dispute with the town folk over their request for a tenth of the proceeds. We learn about the merchants who come by land and sea with their wares to sell at the fair and in particular a wealthy merchant and his beautiful niece who arrive in a handsome boat only to be embroiled in a nasty fight by town youths enraged over the abbey's decision to not give the town a share of the proceeds. The merchant is murdered as well as two others and Brother Cadfael and under-sheriff Hugh Beringer join forces in tracking the culprit. A love story is played out bringing a mellow ending to the bloody scenes. As always Ellis Peters is a delight in her imagery, language and knowledge of medieval history.
    • 5/5
      The approach of the annual St. Peter's Fair reveals tensions between the town and the abbey of Shrewsbury. One year after the castle was under siege in the war for the throne between Stephen and Maud, the town is still repairing its infrastructure. The local merchants are worried about the economic difficulties that the festival will create, as they will lose trade to visiting merchants while the taxes and tolls that would normally be paid to the town will, by charter, be paid to the abbey for the three days of the festival. When the body of a prominent Bristol merchant is discovered on opening day, sheriff Hugh Beringar welcomes Brother Cadfael's assistance in investigating the murder. Was the motive political or personal? Does the dead merchant's niece know more than she has shared with Cadfael and Beringar, and could this knowledge put her in danger?Coincidentally, St. Peter's Fair was held on the first three days of August, and I listened to the book during the same time frame. I love it when that happens! It's one year since the events of One Corpse Too Many, and those events are referred to several times in the book. I loved the interaction between Brother Cadfael and Hugh Beringar in One Corpse Too Many, and I was glad that Hugh had a larger role in this book than he's had in several of the other books I've read in this series. He and Cadfael make a good team. I also enjoy the mentoring relationship between Cadfael and his young assistant, Brother Mark, and they share a great scene as Mark seeks Cadfael's supportive ear after the sudden death of a patient he treated in Cadfael's absence.This has become one of my favorite mystery series. Several of the books I haven't yet read are available for audio download from my public library, and I'm looking forward to listening to several more.
    • 3/5
      July, 1139 is the time of the 3-day St. Peter’s Fair, a large yearly trading fair that takes place on the grounds of the Abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul at Shrewsbury. The previous year’s fair was cancelled because Shrewsbury was under siege during the civil strife between the forces of King Stephen and the Empress Maude over the British crown. This year, a contingent of townspeople comes to the Abbey to request that the new Abbot, Radulfus, allocate ten percent of the fair’s proceeds to the town to make infrastructure repairs. The Abbot is reluctant to change the nature of the charter to the Abbey, and turns them down.A group of the young sons from the town gets involved in a brawl with the merchants over the issue. Not long after, one of the most important of these traders, Thomas of Bristol, is found dead. The chief suspect is the leader of the town brawlers, Phillip Corviser.Brother Caedful from the monastery, who was a witness to the mob scene, doesn’t think Phillip is guilty. Caedful is at the fair acting as a Welsh translator for one of the merchants. He is a good choice since he is one of the more worldly Benedictines, having been a monk only for the last sixteen of his fifty-nine years. He is also known to have led an adventurous life prior to the monastery, and so would be wise in the ways of the trading and politics that take place at the fair.Emma Vernold, the beautiful niece of Thomas, requests that Brother Caedful, together with the deputy sheriff of Shropshire, Hugh Beringar, work to help solve the murder of her uncle. Phillip is rapidly exonerated as more burglaries and murders take place while he is imprisoned. This pleases Phillip, who has fallen for the lovely Emma, but Emma only has eyes for another visitor to the fair, Ivo Corbiere, a young man so handsome even the other young men stop to stare at him. Emma’s troubles aren’t only of the heart, however. Someone at the fair is after something Thomas supposedly was carrying. The other crimes show that this something hasn’t yet been found; will Emma herself be in danger as well?Evaluation: I’ve gotten fond of these tales of “medieval evil” by Ellis Peters. The mysteries aren’t all that mysterious, but I like the protagonist, Brother Caedful, and I like the snippets of history and background about the Middle Ages. I also like reading about the ways murders got solved in the days of very primitive methods of analyzing evidence. These books are a diverting way to pass a couple of hours, and learn something in the bargain.
    • 3/5
      My wife and I took turns reading this aloud to each other, and I think that we probably were unable to really dive deeply into the setting because of that. I think what I liked most about it, though, was the continual hinting about wider issues going on in the world, specifically the looming battle between Maud and Stephen over the rule of England. I know just enough about the era to not find any errors, and it definitely results in a sense of being hobbits down from the Shire, and troubling the councils of the Great and the Wise.The story is well paced, with a good climax. Unfortunately, finding the identity of the murder is absolutely trivial - not because the clues are obvious, but because the story attempts to be a romance as well as a whodunit, and the direction the romance goes makes it clear which character must come to a bad end.I'm sure the major characters are fleshed out through the course of the series. The transient characters were about as well painted as possible given the length of the book.I'm sure you can pick most of this series up cheaply. I'll definitely be reading more.
    • 4/5
      Kept me guessing till the last pages.
    • 5/5
      The end of July of 1139 finds the Abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul at Shrewsbury readying for the annual 3-day summer fair, which will bring to its environs traders from all over England and even the continent, and buyers eager to sample the luxury goods they sell. There is a lull in the civil war between King Stephen and the Empress Maude, with the latter in France.Enter an important merchant, Thomas of Bristol with his lovely daughter, Emma. Thomas almost immediately becomes involved in a brawl involving some of the town's youths over what the latter see as injustice in the paying of rents and tolls to the abbey with nothing for the town to help repair the damage done in the siege of the previous year, when the civil war arrived at Shrewsbury. Not too long afterwards, Thomas is found murdered; the leader of the young men, Phillip Corviser, is immediately suspect, since he has no alibi for the time of the murder. But when other disturbing occurrences around Thomas of Bristol's goods and another murder occur, none of which can be laid at Phillip's hand, Brother Cadfael begins his own investigation. This is one of the best of the Brother Caedfel series, well written in Peters' gentle style, but with a more muscular plot and a really fine climax. As usual, her young "heros" are pretty ingenious but likeable characters. Brother Caedfel is a little less omniscient and wise than usual--and more believable for all that.Very entertaining read. Highly recommended.
    • 3/5
      i'm re-collecting this whole series, for probably the third time. and rereading as they come to hand. even though it would be nice to read the whole series in order just once. but that would mean waiting. this one's not the best example of this series. but it's still fun, to look in on Brother Cadfael's herb garden, and the monastery's power struggles, and the dissensions between that other town and gown. and it's 1139: so there's a larger civil war being fought around the city of Shrewbury, between King Stephen and the Empress Maud. of all the historical mystery series, this one is still the best.
    • 3/5
      St. Peter's Fair is the fourth novel in the Brother Cadfael series. Not bad, but they are all very similar.
    • 4/5
      After the new Abbot refuses to share the profits of the St. Peter's Fair with the townsfolk, Brother Cadfael is drawn into another murder investigation.