One Corpse Too Many

 

By Ellis Peters

A Brother Cadfael story.

King Stephen has come to Shrewsbury and is occupying the area with his troops. The local lords tried to resist but failed and they and their men are summarily executed. In all, 94 people are hung until dead, their bodies dumped in a ditch. 

Brother Cadfael has permission to collect the bodies and arrange for them to be returned to their families and given proper burials. But when he does a head count, he finds 95 dead men, instead of the expected 94. And no one recognizes or knows who the 95th man is.

Meanwhile, Cadfael has taken on a temporary helper, a teenage boy who Cadfael quickly realizes is actually a girl. The girl, Godith, is hiding in the abbey area because her father was one of the rebel lords. If she is taken by Stephen and his allies, she can be held for ransom. When she views the body of the unknown man, she recognizes him as part of the rebel alliance who was entrusted to remove treasure from Shrewsbury and convey it to Queen Maud, Stephen's rival for the British throne. 

The killer was after the treasure and used the mass hanging event as an opportunity of commit the crime and hide his victim among the dead. But Cadfael, examining the body, clearly sees he died from being garroted, not from hanging. 

Together Cadfael and Godith put together the pieces of how, where and why he was killed. With the help of Cadfael and Godith, a killer will be revealed.

This was a good read. With a bit of a surprise ending, when Cadfael accidentally discovers that the murdered man was not quite the innocent Cadfael believed him to be. 

Here is a review by Kirkus.