The Summer of the Danes (Mysterious Press, 1991) is the eighteenth book in the historical mystery series about Brother Cadfael, soldier turned herbalist and monk, written by Edith Pargeter/Ellis Peters. It is one of the last books about the Welsh Benedictine brother based in Shrewsbury and one of my favorites.

It is also one of the longest. Ellis tended to keep Cadfael’s adventures crisp and to the point, with most books about 200 pages in the original, give or take a few pages. The first edition of TSotD is nearly 260 pages. For all of its extra verbiage Cadfael plays the role of the observer, something we don’t usually see. Other characters are in charge here, a novelty for this man of action.

Another anomaly is the subject matter. Peters used war between King Stephen and Empress Matilda to frame the series, showing how the struggle for the crown of England affected ordinary people. The plot of nearly every book in the Cadfael series mentions an incident in this conflict and its impact on Shrewsbury and the surrounding region. In TSotD the fighting between the cousins is in abeyance. Instead Peters looked at the changes in the church and the differences between the way of life in Wales and in England. There is a murder, as usual, but it is almost perfunctory and its resolution has low priority compared to the rest of the action.

The story opens with a visitor to the abbey from the bishop, who is sending an envoy to the newly named bishop in Wales where the Roman church was establishing itself and pushing the Welsh ways out. The envoy is a former member of the abbey and thus well known to the brothers. He requests a Welsh speaker to accompany him into Wales to serve as interpreter. The Welsh-born and raised Cadfael of course is the obvious choice.

The two monks stumble into a feud between two brothers in Wales. The younger brother enlisted an army of Irish/Danish mercenaries to fight his wealthier, better equipped sibling for him. The Danes settled along the eastern coast of Ireland from about 800 A.D. to nearly 1200 A.D. and brought a seafaring culture with them, along with a definite mercantile frame of mind. In the skirmishes, both monks and a young woman fleeing an arranged marriage are taken hostage by the Danes.

Not a complicated story but in its telling the way the Church spread into Wales; the differences among the nomadic Welsh, the raiding Irish/Danes, and the settled English people; and the fealty arrangements of the fighting class and the overlords they served are examined. In short, it’s a fascinating snapshot of the time and place.

Peters writes beautifully. Her descriptions of the scenery as the monks travel through England and Wales are lyrical. The front pages offer a series of wonderfully detailed maps that show first Wales, then the border region in Wales and Shropshire, then the town of Shrewsbury, and finally the Benedictine Abbey.

As a mystery, the book has little to recommend it. The victim was a thoroughly unlikable sort and it is hard to summon much interest in his removal. The greater mystery is how the two Benedictine monks will manage to escape the warring brothers unscathed. We know they will of course.

I always enjoy visiting Cadfael and his world. Anyone new to the series should not start here but those familiar with the books might want to add this title to their TBR list.