A Morbid Taste For Bones by Ellis Peters

Wonderful to listen to Patrick Tull again! May have found a new author/series to follow. Slow flow with interesting characters. Will read another in this series. Thus begins the first of what would ultimately come to be twenty Chronicles of Brother Cadfael, former crusader turned herbalist monk living in the 12th century world of Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. Predictably, the monks are anything but welcome in Wales - not only are they emissaries from an English abbey, which in itself would be bad enough already; they also seek to take what village folk consider their greatest treasure and, more importantly, the village's holy protectress. When wealthy squire Lord Rhysart, who has led the village in opposing the monks' mission, is found murdered, the monks quickly find themselves implicated. Cadfael, of Welsh descendance himself but now part of a mission from an English abbey, finds himself between all lines of allegiance in trying to find Rhysart's murderer; but find the murderer he must, to ensure the success of his brothers' mission and their safe return home. And it will take all his world-wisdom and all his understanding of the divine to unravel the mystery.