Title:

The Confession of Brother Haluin

Author:

Ellis Peters

Category:

Mystery / Thriller

Rating:

Date Reviewed:

December 14, 2025

he Confession of Brother Haluin is the fifteenth entry in the famed Brother Cadfael mystery series. Once again, Peters nails the world building and the characters. Medieval England certainly comes alive in these novels. I like that the characters talk like I imagine people did in the twelfth century. Peters always includes details that describe their world, but without resorting to boring info-dumps. So why only a three star rating? Because I was disappointed by the plot.

Once again, Peters keeps the reader abreast of the big picture in English history. The civil war between King Stephen and Empress Maud continues unabated. We learn that the Empress escapes King Stephen's besieging army at Oxford under cover of a huge snowstorm. It looks like the civil war will continue without resolution for an unforeseen amount of time to come. Unlike the previous book, these large important events play no part in the plot of this story.

The huge snowstorm leaves giant drifts upon the rooftops of St. Peter and St. Paul Abbey, and their great weight leads to a partial collapse of the tiles. Examining the damage, the brothers decide that repairs cannot wait until spring, and so patching the roof begins as soon as the snowstorm abates. Each brother that is able makes the perilous climb to the roof and attempts to clear away snow and replace the damaged slates. Tragedy strikes when Brother Haluin falls from the height, with heavy slate tiles crashing down around him.

It seems the Brother Haluin must certainly perish from his grievous injuries, but he clings to life with each weak breath. Amazingly, Haluin recovers consciousness and requests that Abbot Radulfus and Brother Cadfael hear his last confession. What comes out is a surprising tale of youthful sin that explains why Haluin join the monastery.

Incredibly, Haluin lives. He grows stronger, though he is permanently crippled by his injuries. Despite his damaged body, Brother Haluin insists that he must go on a pilgrimage to atone for the sin he confessed to the Abbot and Cadfael. And so Haluin sets forth in the spring, with Cadfael accompanying the injured man. The pilgrimage has unexpected consequences.

My complaint with the plot is that Brother Cadfael does no sleuthing in this mystery. He merely travels along with Haluin and watches as the surprising events unfold. As is typical of Peter's plots, there is a good deal of coincidence.

My other disappointment is that big surprise that Peter's springs upon her readers was obvious to me about a hundred pages before it was revealed. To me, most of the novel was spent with Peters moving pieces around the board until everything was in place to unveil the surprise (which turned out to be exactly what I anticipated).

Will Peters ever write a book in which young lovers are thwarted?

Like all Brother Cadfael books, this is a quick read. Onto to book 16, The Heretic's Apprentice.