A monk embarks on a dangerous quest to find a trio of missing travelers in this medieval mystery by an Edgar Award–winning author. The winter of 1139 will disrupt Brother Cadfael’s tranquil life in Shrewsbury with the most disturbing of 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 eighteen-year-old girl of great beauty, and their companion, a young Benedictine nun. The trio never reaches Shrewsbury, having disappeared somewhere in the wild countryside.   Cadfael is afraid for 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.

在这部由埃德加奖得主创作的中世纪悬疑小说中，一位修士开始了寻找三位失踪旅行者的危险探索。1139年的冬天，卡德菲尔修士在什鲁斯伯里的平静生活将被最令人不安的事件打乱。激烈的内战使难民从伍斯特向北逃亡。其中有两个来自贵族家庭的孤儿，一个13岁的男孩和一个18岁的漂亮女孩，以及他们的同伴，一个年轻的本笃会修女。这三人从未到达过什鲁斯伯里，他们在荒凉的乡间某处消失了。  卡德菲尔为这三只丢失的羔羊感到害怕，但另一个求助电话将他送到了圣玛丽教堂。一个受伤的修士被发现赤身裸体，在路边流血，如果没有卡德菲尔的医术，他肯定会死。这个圣人为什么会被攻击，以及他疯狂的呓语所揭示的内容，很快给卡德菲尔修士提供了一条关于失踪旅行者命运的线索。现在，卡德菲尔踏上了寻找他们的危险征程。这条路将把他引向一个阴冷而可怕的谋杀案和一个激情失控的故事。在旅程的终点，等待他的是对人类最好和最坏的看法。