Just before a prisoner exchange, one of the prisoners dies under mysterious circumstances and Brother Cadfael suspects it is not a natural death. He sets about on an investigation with stunning results.

"In the summer of 1138, war between King Stephen and the Empress Maud takes Brother Cadfael from the quiet world of his garden into a battlefield of passions, deceptions, and death. Not far from the safety of the abbey walls, Shrewsbury Castle falls, leaving its ninety-four defenders loyal to the empress to hang as traitors. With a heavy heart, Brother Cadfael agrees to bury the dead, only to make a grisly discovery: one extra victim that has been...

An itinerant acrobat is accused of robbery and murder. By church law, he has sanctuary for forty days... is that enough time for Cadfael to uncover the truth?