THE SANCTUARY SPARROW

By Ellis Peters

Synopsis

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 Cadfael finds himself fighting off armed townsmen to save a terrified young man. Accused of robbery and murder of the local goldsmith is Liliwin, a wandering minstrel who performed at the wedding of the local goldsmith's son. But his supposed victim, is still alive and his strongbox is empty.

Sample Player

Narrator	Paul Moriarty
Length	9hrs
Catalogue No.	16735
Publisher	Sphere; 2012

Other audiobooks by Ellis Peters

THE ASSIZE OF THE DYING

Louis Stevenson is convicted of murder but protests his innocence. A young couple are determined to unmask the real killer before he strikes again.

BROTHER CADFAEL'S PENANCE

The Civil War takes a step closer to Cadfael when he discovers that his own son, born as a result of a brief encounter thirty years earlier, has been taken prisoner. Cadfael decides to break his monastic vows and do everything possible to find and release his son. 20th Cadfael mystery.

THE CONFESSION OF BROTHER HALUIN

December, 1142. A brother of Shrewsbury Abbey suffers a fall that almost kills him. He makes a shocking deathbed confession to Brother Cadfael. When the man recovers Cadfael accompanies him on an arduous journey to redeem his past sins. 15th Cadfael Mystery.

DEAD MAN'S RANSOM

Sheriff Prestcote is murdered in the Abbey’s infirmary and suspicion falls on Elis, a young Welsh prisoner, who is in love with the Sheriff’s daughter. Cadfael agrees to help him prove his innocence but the truth proves difficult for him. 9th Cadfael mystery.

THE DEVIL'S NOVICE

A priest goes missing outside the Abbey walls and a novice, Meriet, is soon linked to the crime. Only Brother Cadfael believes in his innocence and he has to employ all his powers of detection to save the boy from the noose. 8th Cadfael mystery.

AN EXCELLENT MYSTERY

August 1141 and two monks ride into the Abbey with the news that the war has destroyed the town of Winchester and their priory. Cadfael senses a powerful link between them and he faces a test of his discretion and beliefs as he unravels a secret which could wreak destruction. 11th Cadfael mystery.

FALLEN INTO THE PIT

George Felse investigates the murder of a Nazi land-worker in an English village just after the Second World War. His son discovers a clue to the killer’s identity and thus puts his own life in danger.

THE HERETIC'S APPRENTICE

Elave, the young attendant to William of Lythwood, returns to Shrewsbury to bury his master in the Abbey and to deliver a dowry to William's adopted daughter. He is arrested for expressing heretical views and when the Lythwood family clerk is stabbed to death, Elave is accused of the murder. 16th Cadfael Mystery.

THE HERMIT OF EYTON FOREST

In the Autumn of 1142, a holy man living as a hermit is found dead. His murder coincides with the arrival of the new Lord of Eaton at the Abbey of Shrewsbury. Brother Cadfael suspects a connection, but the new lord is only ten years old – who can have been acting in his interests?

HOLIDAY WITH VIOLENCE

It should have been a wonderful holiday, but the four young people travelling to Venice are shocked when an elderly travelling companion is brutally attacked.

THE HOLY THIEF

The abbey of Ramsey in the Fens is in a dilapidated state and an appeal is made to all Benedictine houses for help in restoring it. Two monks come to Shrewsbury seeking funds and while they are there a flood occurs, forcing the monks from the Abbey to relocate their treasures. Not long afterwards it is discovered that a theft has occurred. 19th Cadfael mystery.

THE LEPER OF ST GILES

With Brother Mark tending the sick in the lazar house, Cadfael must train a new assistant. In the town there is concern over the proposed marriage of a young woman to a much older man. When the bridegroom is murdered, Cadfael must investigate, but can Brother Oswin be trusted as the herbalist's assistant? 5th Cadfael Mystery.

MONK'S HOOD

In 1138, Brother Cadfael's workshop contains medications for every kind of ailment. When Gervase Bonel is poisoned with one of them, suspicion falls on someone who Cadfael is certain is innocent. 3rd Cadfael mystery.

A MORBID TASTE FOR BONES

In the 12th-century Benedictine monastery of Shrewsbury, Brother Cadfael has settled down to a quiet life in charge of the herbarium. It is fortunate his prowess as a herbalist is matched by his detective skills - and when his prior acquires the bones of a saint, the obstacles include murder. 1st Cadfael mystery

ONE CORPSE TOO MANY

In the Summer of 1138, after a bloody battle between royal cousins squabbling over the English throne, Brother Cadfael, performing funeral rights, discovers an extra body. One death among so many seems unimportant to all but the good Benedictine. He vows to expose the truth and sets out to find the murderer.

THE PILGRIM OF HATE

Pilgrims are gathering to celebrate the translation of Saint Winifred's bones to the Benedictine abbey at Shrewsbury. In Winchester, a Knight has been murdered - not apparently an event of importance to those seeking miraculous cures at the saint's shrine. It soon becomes evident that the murder is much less remote than it first seems. 10th Cadfael Mystery.

THE POTTER'S FIELD

In August 1143 the Potter's field is to be transferred to the Benedictine Abbey in Shrewsbury. When the monks begin to plough it, they turn up the long, raven tresses of a young woman, dead a year or more; even Brother Cadfael, herbalist and student of all things medical, cannot say how long. 17th Cadfael mystery.

A RARE BENEDICTINE

Three vintage tales of medieval intrigue and treachery featuring the author's monastic sleuth Brother Cadfael. The stories show the chain of events that led him into the Benedictine Order and, evoking Shropshire backgrounds and his understanding of the frailties of human nature, show him at the height of his detecting skills.

THE RAVEN IN THE FOREGATE

When the unpopular new priest of the Holy Cross is found drowned in the millpool, Cadfael and the sheriff, Hugh Beringar, find themselves investigating an extraordinary mystery. 12th Cadfael Mystery.

THE ROSE RENT

In 1142 someone is plotting to prevent the Abbey making an annual payment to a young widow. Cadfael must find out who and why? 13th Cadfael mystery.

SAINT PETER'S FAIR

At the annual fair of St Peter in Shrewsbury a quarrel breaks out between the local burghers and the monks over who shall benefit from the money raised by the fair. A riot breaks out, after which a merchant is found dead and Brother Cadfael must once more employ his skills as a detective.

THE SUMMER OF THE DANES

Cadfael accompanies his young friend, Brother Mark, on a mission to Wales and finds himself caught up in a royal feud between Owain Gwynedd and his brother Cadwaladr. Cadfael is captured, together with a young woman seeking to escape an arranged marriage. 18th Cadfael mystery.

THE VIRGIN IN THE ICE

A BBC Radio 4 Dramatisation featuring crime-solving medieval monk, Cadfael. Winter, 1139, and Brother Cadfael's tranquil life at Shrewsbury monastery is once again interrupted by violent, mysterious happenings. As civil war rages close by, two orphans of a great family and their companion, a nun, disappear in the woods. Cadfael sets out to find them.

THE VIRGIN IN THE ICE

During the bitter November of 1139, civil war brings refugees to Shrewsbury in search of sanctuary. But two orphans and their companion, a nun, do not arrive from Worcester as planned, and Brother Cadfael is despatched from the Abbey to try and locate them.