Ellis Peters has 14 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 12 narrators, with an average listener rating of 4.7★ across 72 ratings. The most-rated is The Adventures of Brother Cadfael.
The Adventures of Brother Cadfael
Summary
A collection of chronicles including The Summer of the Danes, Brother Cadfael's Penance, The Heretic's Apprentice, Monk's Hood, The Potter's Field, Saint Peter's Fair.
©1980, 1989, 1990, 1994, 1995 Ellis Peters (P)1996, 2014 Dove Audio, Phoenix Books
The Leper of Saint Giles
Summary
Setting out for the Saint Giles leper colony outside Shrewsbury, Brother Cadfael has more pressing matters on his mind than the grand wedding coming to his abbey. Yet as fate would have it, Cadfael arrives at Saint Giles just as the nuptial party passes the colony's gates. He sees the fragile bride looking like a prisoner between her two stern guardians and the bridegroom, an arrogant, fleshy aristocrat old enough to be her grandfather. And he quickly discerns this union may be more damned than blessed. Indeed, a savage murder will interrupt the May-December marriage and leave Brother Cadfael with a dark, terrible mystery to solve. For the key to the killing - and a secret - are hid among the lepers of Saint Giles. Now Brother Cadfael's skills must ferret out a sickness, not of the body, but of a twisted soul - in the fifth Brother Cadfael Chronicle, a work that displays Ellis Peters' special genius at her best.
©1981 by Ellis Peters (P)1998 by Blackstone Audiobooks
An Excellent Mystery
Summary
This is the eleventh chronicle of Brother Cadfael, of the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, at Shrewsbury. In the year of our Lord 1141, August comes in golden as a lion, and two monks ride into the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul bringing with them disturbing news of war...and a mystery. The strangers tell how the strife between the Empress Maud and King Stephan has destroyed the town of Winchester and their priory. Now Brother Humilis, who is handsome, gaunt, and very ill, and Brother Fidelis, youthful, comely (and totally mute) must seek refuge at Shrewsury. And from the moment he meets them, Brother Cadfael senses something deeper than their common vows binds these two good brothers. What the link is he can only guess...what it will lead to is beyond his imagining. But as Brother Humilis' health fails, and nothing can stop death's lengthening shade, Brother Cadfael faces a poignant test of his discretion and his beliefs as he unravels a secret so great it can destroy a life, a future, and a holy order.
©1984, 1985, 1987 Ellis Peters (P)2000 Blackstone Audiobooks
Monk's-Hood
Summary
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 by two very different surprises. In Master Bonel's wife, the good monk recognises Richildis, whom he loved many years ago before he took his vows. And Master Bonel has been fatally poisoned by a dose of deadly monk's-hood oil from Cadfael's herbarium. The Sheriff is convinced that the murderer is Richildis' son Edwin, who had reasons aplenty to hate his stepfather. But Cadfael, guided in part by his tender concern for a woman to whom he was once betrothed, is certain of her son's innocence. Using his knowledge of both herbs and the human heart, Cadfael deciphers a deadly recipe for murder....
©1980 Ellis Peters (P)2011 Hachette Digital
The Pilgrim of Hate
Summary
In the year of our Lord 1141, civil war over England's throne leaves a legacy of violence, and the murder of a knight dear to Brother Cadfael. And with the gentle bud-strewn May, a flood of pilgrims comes to the celebration of Saint Winifred at the Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, carrying with it many strange souls, and perhaps the knight's killer. Brother Cadfael's shrewd eyes see all: the prosperous merchant who rings false, an angelic lame boy, his beautiful dowerless sister, and two wealthy penitents.
©1984 Ellis Peters (P)2000 Blackstone Audiobooks
The Virgin in the Ice
Summary
The winter of 1139 will disrupt Brother Cadfael's tranquil life in Shrewsbury with the most disturbing events. 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 18-year-old girl of great beauty, and their companion, a young Benedictine nun. But the trio, never reaching Shrewsbury, have disappeared somewhere in the wild countryside. Cadfael feels afraid these three lost lambs, but another call for help sends him to the Church of Saint Mary. A wounded monk, found naked and bleeding by the roadside, will surely die without Cadfael's healing arts. Why this holy man has been attacked and what his fevered ravings reveal soon give Brother Cadfael a clue to the fate of the missing travelers. Now Cadfael sets out on a dangerous quest to find them. The road will lead him to a chill and terrible murder and a tale of passion gone awry. And at journey's end awaits a vision of what is best, and worst, in humankind...in Ellis Peters's most stunning depiction yet of love and war.
©1982 by Ellis Peters (P)1998 by Blackstone Audiobooks
The Hermit of Eyton Forest
Summary
The year is 1142, and all England is in the iron grip of civil war. And within the sheltered cloisters of the Benedictine Abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul, there begins a chain of events no less momentous than the political upheavals of the outside world. First, there is the sad demise of Richard Ludel, Lord of Eaton, whose 10-year-old son and heir, also named Richard, is a pupil at the Abbey. The boy refuses to surrender his new powers to his formidable grandmother; supported by Abbot Radulfus, Richard defies the furious Dionysia. A stranger to the region is the hermit Cuthred, who enjoys the protection of Lady Dionysia, and whose young companion, Hyacinth, befriends Richard. Despite his reputation for holiness, Cuthred's arrival heralds a series of mishaps for the monks. When Richard disappears and a corpse is found in Eyton Forest, Brother Cadfael is once more forced to leave the tranquility of his herb garden and devote his knowledge of human nature to tracking down a ruthless murderer. This is the fourteenth chronicle of Brother Cadfael, of the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, at Shrewsbury.
©1987 Ellis Peters (P)2000 Blackstone Audiobooks
Dead Man's Ransom
Summary
It is early in the twelfth century, and the civil war between King Stephen and the Empress Maud rages with renewed vigor. In the battle of Lincoln, the sheriff of Shropshire is captured, and the king himself is detained by his enemies. An exchange of prisoners is arranged: the sheriff will be bartered for a young Welsh lordling who has been captured during a misguided assault on a convent. All seems to be going according to plan until one of the prisoners dies under mysterious circumstances before the exchange is completed. Canny as ever, Brother Cadfael suspects that more than a little evil is afoot, and before long his suspicions are confirmed. How Cadfael determines that the man's death was not a natural one is the stuff from which the best and most satisfying suspense stories are made. In this case Ellis Peters's sleuthing Benedictine bases his indictment for murder on literally a single thread. Of extraordinary softness and hue, this filament will bind together the destinies of an unusual trio of young lovers. The unraveling of their tale yields a powerful subtext that explores the nature of love, identity, and divided loyalty. A stunning conclusion and a memorable cast of characters, including the debut of the irrepressible Sister Magdalen, are sure to engage every devotee of medieval suspense.
©1994 Ellis Peters (P)2000 Blackstone Audiobooks
The Rose Rent
Summary
A late spring in 1142 has the Abbey monks dismayed, for there may be no roses by June 22nd. For three years, the wealthy young widow Judith Perle has rented her house to the monks for the price of a single rose each year. When nature finally complies, a pious monk is sent to pay the rent—and found murdered beside the hacked rose-bush. Without a rose, the monks’ rental contract becomes void, adding greatly to the widow’s dowry. But before Brother Cadfael can ponder if a greedy suitor has done this dreadful deed, another crime is committed. Now the good monk must thread his way through a tangle more tortuous than the widow’s thorny bushes.
©1986 Ellis Peters (P)1990 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
The Sanctuary Sparrow
Summary
On a spring evening in 1140 Shrewsbury, the midnight matins at the Benedictine abbey suddenly reverberate 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 in to claim sanctuary, Brother Cadfael finds himself fighting off armed townsmen to save a terrified young man. Accused of robbery and murder is Liliwin, a wandering minstrel who performed at the wedding of a local goldsmith’s son. The cold light of morning, however, will show his supposed victim still lives, although a strongbox lies empty. Brother Cadfael believes Liliwin is innocent, but finding the truth and the treasure before Liliwin’s respite in sanctuary runs out may uncover a deadlier sin than thievery—a desperate love that not even the threat of hanging can stop.
©1983 Ellis Peters (P)1998 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
The Devil's Novice
Summary
Outside the pale of the Abbey of Saint Peters 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, what troubles Brother Cadfael is a proud, secretive 19-year-old novice. Brother Cadfael has never seen two men more estranged than the Lord of Aspley and Meriet, the son he coldly delivers to the abbey to begin a religious vocation. Meriet, meek by day, is so racked by dreams at night that his howls earn him the nickname the Devil's Novice. Shunned and feared, Meriet is soon linked to the missing priest's dreadful fate. Only Brother Cadfael believes in Meriet's innocence, and only the good sleuth can uncover the truth before a boy's pure passion, not evil intent, leads a novice to the noose.
©1983 by Ellis Peters (P)1997 by Blackstone Audiobooks
Brother Cadfael
Summary
Three BBC radio dramatisations of Ellis Peters' much-loved medieval murder mysteries featuring monk-cum-sleuth Brother Cadfael. A onetime Crusader turned Benedictine monk, Brother Cadfael is a most unusual detective. Living a quiet life as a monastery herbalist, he spends his days ministering to his brothers using the medical skills he acquired in the Holy Lands - but his worldly knowledge and wide experience of human nature are frequently called upon when there is a murder to solve.... Monk's Hood Brother Cadfael is asked to supply a healing potion for a sick monk - but monk's hood oil can kill as well as cure.... The Virgin in the Ice In the winter of 1139, Cadfael sets out through snowbound Shropshire to find a missing boy and his sister. Dead Man's Ransom 1141. Beyond the walls of the abbey, civil war rages. When news arrives that Sheriff Gilbert Prestcote has been taken prisoner, a hostage exchange is arranged - but love and murder intervene.... Starring Philip Madoc as Cadfael, with supporting casts including Michael Hordern, Michael Kitchen and Susannah York, these thrilling tales of murder, mystery and intrigue bring the turbulent world of 12th-century Shrewsbury superbly to life. Monk's Hood Brother Cadfael - Philip Madoc Narrator - Michael Hordern Brother Mark - Ian Targett Fr Heribert - Timothy Bateson Prior Robert - Geoffrey Whitehead Meurig - Kenneth Price Richildis Bonel - Pat Heywood Brother Rhys/Judge - Norman Jones Aelfric - Mark Straker Brother Edmund - Timothy Carlton Brother Petrus - Fraser Kerr Sergeant - Ian Hogg Aldith - Jane Whittenshaw Edwy Bellecote - Stephen Garlick Edwin Gurney - Richard Pearce Hugh Beringar - Alan Barker Ifor ap Morgan - Michael Turner Brother Barnabas - Terence Edmond Dramatised by Bert Coules Produced by Lissa Evans First broadcast in 1991 The Virgin in the Ice Brother Cadfael - Philip Madoc Narrator - Michael Hordern Hugh Beringar - Douglas Hodge Olivier - Raad Rawi Ermina - Moira Buffini Ives - Dean Magri Abbot Radulfus - John Church Leonard - Leonard Fenton Elyas - Crispin Letts Boterel - Andrew Wincott Button - Eric Allan Porter - Steve Hodson Le Gaucher - Peter Laird Axeman/Sergeant - Peter Gunn Outlaw - Jonathan Adams Sergeant - Jonathan Tafler With David Holt, Ann Windsor, Julian Rhind-Tutt, John Fleming and Kate Binchy Dramatised by Bert Coules Produced by Phil Clarke Music by Peter Salem First broadcast in 1992. Dead Man's Ransom Brother Cadfael - Philip Madoc Sister Magdalen - Susannah York Hugh Beringar - Jonathan Tafler Elis - Jason Hughes Radulfus - Trevor Peacock Herbard/Edmund/Ithel - Shaun Prendergast Aline - Lorien Haynes Lad/Villager - David Holt Narrator - Michael Kitchen Melicent - Katy Odey Prince Owain - Sion Probert Cristina - Siobhan Flynn Eliud - Mark Lewis Jones Maurice/Rhys/Griffri - Douglas Blackwell Anion - Matthew Morgan Dramatised by Bert Coules Produced by Neil Cargill Music by Peter Salem First broadcast in 1995.
©2020 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2020 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd
The Raven in the Foregate
Summary
Christmas, 1141 A.D. Abbot Radulfus returns from London, bringing with him a priest for the vacant living of Holy Cross (known as the Foregate), a man of presence, scholarship and discipline, but neither humility nor the common touch. When he is found drowned in the mill-pond, suspicion is cast in many directions, not least toward a young man who came in the priest's train, sent to work in Brother Cadfael's garden. For he has little obvious priestly calling. Indeed, he soon attracts the friendship of a girl both beautiful and formidable. To Brother Cadfael, once wordly, now dedicated, if gently cynical, is left the familiar task of sorting the complicated strands which define guilt and innocence.
©1986 by Ellis Peters (P)1998 by Blackstone Audiobooks
The Potter's Field
Summary
It is the Summer and Autumn of the Year of Our Lord 1143 in which the gentle monk, Brother Cadfael, is forced to leave the tranquility of his herb garden to find the whole truth behind the murder of a young women whose body was unexpectedly discovered in a newly tilled field recently acquired by the Shrewsbury Abbey in a land exchange. Tony Award-winning actor Derek Jacobi narrates, using his thespian talents to bring the characters, suspense, and intrigue to life in this seventeenth chronicle of Brother Cadfael adventure.
©1990 Ellis Peters (P)1996, 2014 Dove Audio, Phoenix Books