The year is 1141 and civil war continues to rage. In the battle. of Lincoln the sheriff of Shropshire is captured and the kinghimself taken prisoner by his enemies. Nothing more natural than that an exchange of prisoners should take place. But before this can be completed, one captive is murdered. And to Brother Cadfael, who first notices the evidence of unnatural death, falls the task Of gathering enough clues to prove it.
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