The pilgrim of hate: As pilgrims gather at Shrewsbury to celebrate the fourth anniversary of the translation of St Winifred's bones to the Benedictine abbey, in distant Winchester, a knight has been murdered. But among the throng, some strange customers indeed begin to puzzle Brother Cadfael. An excellent mystery: The Abbey of Hyde Meade is totally destroyed during civil strife of 1141; its brothers scattered. But as the brothers attempt to rebuild their lives, old wounds are reopened, pain relived and harsh deeds committed. The raven in the Foregate: Christmas, 1141. Abbot Radulfus returns from London, bringing with him a priest for the vacant living of the Holy Cross (known as the Foregate). When he is found drowned in the millpond, only the perseverance of brother Cadfael can identify the murderer.