The Virgin In the Ice (Brother Cadfael Mysteries)

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

The Virgin In the Ice (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael #6)

4.07 of 5 stars 4.07 · rating details · 2,646 ratings · 86 reviews

In the winter of 1139, raging civil war has sent refugees fleeing north from Worcester, among them an orphaned boy and his beautiful 18-year-old sister. Traveling with a young nun, they set out for Shrewsbury, but disappear somewhere in the wild countryside. Now, Brother Cadfael embarks on a dangerous quest to find them.

Mass Market Paperback, first paperback edition, 200 pages

Published January 12th 1986 by Fawcett (first published 1982)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Add this book to your favorite list »

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Jan 09, 2009 Ikonopeiston rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

This is one of my favourite of the Brother Cadfael series. The evocation of England during the Little Ice Age is precise enough to make me shiver and the images of the land under the blanket of snow are beautiful. The first appearance of Olivier is worth the price of admission all by itself. It is well nigh impossible not to fall head over heels for that young man on sight.

As usual, the plot is impeccably tied up with no annoying straggling ends. Peters has her story well in hand again. We come...more

like 2 likes · see review

Oct 11, 2011 Stephen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: detective-stories, historical-fiction, books-read-in-2011

Another fine installment in the Cadfael saga. This one is set outside the normal setting of Shrewsbury. This has always been one of my favorite epiosde from the PBS television series but is better in printed form. As usual the storyline for the TV adaptation is simpler and not as rich and where Ms. Peters uses new characters freely the TV series recycles some of the cast regulars.

like 2 likes · see review

Apr 20, 2010 Joyce Lagow rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

No. 6 in the Brother Caedfel series.[return][return]In the late fall of 1139, the civil war between King Stephen and the Empress Maude for the throne of England flares up and engulfs the city of Worcester which lies close to the Welsh border and not far south of Shrewsbury. As a result, a tide of refugees washes over Shrewsbury Abbey and the town itself. To the abbey comes a messenger from a brother house in Worcester, seeking the whereabouts of two children of a noble family, Ermina and her you...more

like · see review

Sep 02, 2012 Booknblues rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: medieval fans

Shelves: medieval, mystery

In Ellis Peters sixth Brother Cadfael chronicle a headstrong young woman, Ermina Hugonin, her younger brother, Yves and a nun flee Worcester and head towards Shrubbery as Maude's forces overpower Stephens in the 12th century. They never arrive, concerning Cadfael and the local Sheriff. After being called to Bromfield to nurse a fellow monk to health Cadfael begins to discover the mystery of their disappearance.
As is her usual style Ellis Peters makes quick work of capturing the readers interest...more

like · see review

Nov 11, 2010 Cecily Felber rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Everyone!

Confession: This is my absolute favorite Brother Cadfael story! (although The Sanctuary Sparrow and Dead Man's Ransom follow closely)

In the middle of a harsh winter, a band of marauders is on the loose, killing, raping and pillaging the countryside. Also on the loose are a pair of noble children and the nun that is their guardian, refugees from the sack of the town of Worcester to the south. Hugh Beringar and Cadfael are called in, the hunt is on...and Cadfael is destined to find that which he n...more

like 1 like · see review

Sep 15, 2008 Ron rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction

Also a personal favorite. Our first glimpse of--I can't tell you that! Read it for yourself. (Mystery was close on this one.)

Cadfael series: excellent historical fiction. Ellis Peters draws the reader into the twelfth century with modern story telling but holds us there with a richness of detail which evokes a time and place which might as well be fictional. Though the foreground of each chronicle is a murder mystery, behind it a nation and a culture are woven in a wondrous tapestry.

like 1 like · see review

May 07, 2013 Valerie added it · review of another edition

All the editions of books in this series carry the exact same reviews. Somebody should go back and add other reviews to the standard ones, which are for the series as a whole, and not for the individual books.

This volume begins in early November 1139. And a cold November it became, too. Among the characters introduced in this volume is Giles Beringar, born in the middle of a crowd of refugees fleeing from a flareup of the violence in the civil war between the 'uncousinly cousins', Stephen and Ma...more All the editions of books in this series carry the exact same reviews. Somebody should go back and add other reviews to the standard ones, which are for the series as a whole, and not for the individual books.

This volume begins in early November 1139. And a cold November it became, too. Among the characters introduced in this volume is Giles Beringar, born in the middle of a crowd of refugees fleeing from a flareup of the violence in the civil war between the 'uncousinly cousins', Stephen and Maude. Not that Aline Beringar really had to flee her country home: but since Hugh was going to be in town, and at this time they had no townhouse in Shrewsbury, it seemed best for her to move into town.

The refugees from Worcester, which is sacked, are an unorganized pack. Like many refugees, they scurry to anywhere that might be safe, often to places where they have kin; too often to abbeys and hostelries which find themselves overwhelmed. So people are dismayed, but not too surprised, to find that two children and their escort, a nun hardly more than a child herself, have gone astray.

In what seems to be an unrelated matter, a monk of the order is waylaid and nearly killed, apparently by bandits. How this leads to the discovery of the virgin in the ice (technically no longer a virgin, since she's obviously been raped), and how they are all tied together, becomes a matter for a more than usually peripatetic Brother Cadfael to untangle.

One thing that I always like about these stories is Brother Cadfael's 'unofficial' medical practice. There are formally trained doctors, infirmarers, apothecaries, etc in the society. Brother Cadfael is not one of them. He's not quite self-taught. He has worked with several of them (Brother Edmund at the abbey, for example), and, being literate, has studied formal herbals and suchlike. But he has also developed fairly good practices of his own. The description in this book of the treatment of a shocky, badly injured man is a description of very good practice. And this is true in quite a few other books in the series.

I should point out that it's not quite true that all the loose ends are tied up. I would really like to hear, for example, of the history of a young nun who chose the odd conventual name of Hilaria, and I have to wonder what would have happened to her if she had survived. And what was the history of Alain Le Gaucher? Other bandits are a pretty usual assortment: but a bastard sprig of the nobility wouldn't normally end up caught up with ordinary outcasts. A lot is explained by the breakdown of social structures in the civil war. But there are still inexplicable elements in the story.

I find the description of Titterstone Clee fascinating. I had known that such features were part of the landscape of Britain, but I hadn't heard such a detailed description before. So, as I often do when I encounter a description of a new word or geological feature, I looked it up. And it is, as I suspected, a real place. Whether it was ever used as a hideout for bandits...well, that might be romancing on Peters' part. And the stockade almost certainly is. But it's another example of how Peters managed such verisimilitude: by using real places and real history as a bedrock stratum.

The introduction of a tall, dark, mysterious stranger (an armed one, at that), may seem at first to be a distraction. His remarkable beauty is one of the first things noted about him, but his presence, on the same quest others have undertaken, might be anticipated. Laurence d'Angers, deprived of licensed access to search for his missing niece and nephew, would, of course, have sent an unlicensed volunteer to scout around. Not that he didn't trust the Sheriff's and the Church's agents to do their best, but sitting around and doing nothing? That's not on. Olivier de Bretagne is a not unexpected complication, and Hugh Beringar takes care not to learn what he'd be forced to act on, if he knew. The surprise comes in the identity of the Angevin agent, and I won't spoil it.

One note about language: the language spoken in England in the times of these books would be a form of early Middle English. It would be beginning to incorporate Norman French, but only just beginning--1139 is still less than 100 years after the Norman Invasion. There could still be living people (though they'd be very old) who remembered pre-Norman England. So the English at the time would have been nearly incomprehensible to speakers of Modern English. Peters tends to sprinkle in a few contemporary terms, and leave it with those hints.

Other languages where also commonly spoken in the Britain of the time. In the border counties, Welsh is a common language. Flemish is also widely spoken, and that because of Flemish traders as well as Flemish mercenaries. And learned people, having mostly had monastic schooling, speak Latin. Probably not classical Latin, though. Ecclesiastical Latin had become altered since Roman days, and while some people at the Universities may have learned Latin in its older forms, likely the ordinary monks would have had (and taught) a more limited knowledge of Latin.

Peters translates all these different tongues into what's nearly Modern English, and usually simply indicates the language spoken in the text. But there are odd exceptions. Thus in One Corpse Too Many, at one point King Stephen directs his followers 'a la outrance'. I like this word. I think English missed a bet by not adopting it. Oh, 'exit' is fine for everyday use; but 'outrance' so harmoniously accords with 'entrance' that it seems worth adding. I wonder why they didn't?

(less)

like · see review

Nov 29, 2010 Doug added it · review of another edition

The war between King Stephen & Empress Maud has brought a band of thieves into King Stephen's territory which results in a beat up monk,the murder of a young girl, and the disappearance of two young people, a brother and sister. Cadfael is involved in finding the young people, bringing the monk back to health, and solving the murder.

The story is good and the characters are excellent. I keep thinking no matter the time period people are pretty much the same in their desires, strengths, and w...more

like · see review

Jul 23, 2011 Ruth rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: crime-historical

First published in 1982, Ellis Peters is the pen name of Edith Pargeter (1913-1995). Set in 1139 against the backdrop of the succession wars between Maud and Stephen (known as The Anarchy), there are a number of complicated twists to the plot which makes this a great read. The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael are infused with events from this period although Cadfael is mainly concerned with the disastrous impact of this civil war on the lives of the common people. Cadfael's background is elaborated...more

like · see review

Feb 23, 2010 Sarai rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, historical

Amazon.com Product Description:
It is winter 1139 and the tranquil life in the monastery gardens in Shrewsbury is again interrupted by violence. Raging civil war has sent refugees fleeing north from Worcester. Among them are two orphans from a noble family, a boy of thirteen and an eighteen year old girl of great beauty, with their companion, a young Benedictine nun. But the trio have disappeared somewhere in the wild countryside. Cadfael fears for these three lost lambs, but his skills are neede...more

like · see review

Feb 09, 2012 Richard (Rick) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was my first Cadfael mystery, because I could get it on audio. My mother loved these books. I thought this particular one was good, but not overwhelming. The solving of the final mystery was depressing to me to hear what happened to the victim, but it's not any worse than probably any other murder mystery. It's probably just that I don't have a stomach for the mystery genre in general. I did enjoy the old-fashioned language, medieval history (which is pretty accurate to the time period), an...more

like · see review

Dec 18, 2011 Lindsey Duncan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

Deeply rooted in the turmoil of the war between Empress Maud and King Stephen in the 1100s, The Virgin In The Ice poses Brother Cadfael with a number of puzzles: a frozen angel, a wounded monk, and missing young nobles whose guardian is on the wrong side of the fighting. These mysteries collide with the threatening presence of a band of marauders.

As ever, this episode in Cadfael's chronicles is steeped in history and poetry, written with a thoughtful, pensive air - eminently appropriate for even...more

like · see review

Mar 06, 2010 Ed rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Both Crime Fiction and Historical Fiction fans

Shelves: historical-fiction, crime-fiction, reviewed

The opportunity to read a murder mystery and a historical novel simultaneously is a joy. This is especially true of the Cadfael mysteries, a series authored by Ellis Peters, a pseudonym for Edith Pargeter.

I had seen the BBC production of this title years ago and yet I was no less caught up in the suspense to say nothing of being transported to another time. The plot is simple, Cadfael discovers a young girl frozen in a creek. He refuses to jump to obvious conclusions and the result is that the t...more

like · see review

Mar 25, 2013 Meredith rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: a-brothers-love, a-sisters-love, audio, british-literature, fiction, friendship, intrigue, morality-tales, mystery, period-piece, resourceful-boys, resourceful-men, resourceful-women, romance, series, threat-of-rape, war, faith, theology

Solid combination of layered mystery, true to the context of a civil war and the chaos and secondary chaos that brings. Then there are the relationships between various characters - strangers who lean on one another, becoming guardians and friends.

There's also a wonderful theme of where the line is between true responsibility and unreasonable guilt. We are responsible for the choices and actions we take - we cannot hold ourselves responsible for the actions and choices made by others, particular...more

like · see review

Jan 29, 2012 Chris Dooley rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I have been reading several of Ellis Peters' Cadfael series. Although they are a sequence, I don't always find them in just the right order. They still read like complete books, each one. As with her other books, Peters is great at laying out seemingly unrelated events and bring in characters from divers place, all of them coming together in a meaningful, and sometimes surprising, way eventually.
The clues in this mystery reside as much in the nature of the characters as in the various objects an...more

like · see review

Jul 30, 2012 M Christopher rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

This is another fine entry in Ellis Peters' acclaimed "Cadfael Chronicles." In this book, Brother Cadfael is drawn into the adventure of three young people seeking refuge from a fresh outbreak of the war between forces loyal to the Empress Matilda and those of King Stephen as the cousins vie for supremacy in England. With only a few longeurs, the pace is good, the characters engaging and the mystery of "The Virgin in the Ice" kept me guessing until the very end. There is also the introduction of...more

like 1 like · see review

May 06, 2010 Kathryn rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2002, 2010, reread-books

Ist recorded reading: September 2002

I had forgotten just how good this particular Brother Cadfael mystery is; I had read it in September, 2002, and remembered, as usual, very little of the book. But this is indeed one of the best ones, and is the one I would recommend to anyone who wished to read just one Brother Cadfael mystery.

In November of the Year of our Lord 1139, word comes to the Abbey of the sack of the town of Worcester. King Stephen is in possession of the Crown, but the Empress Maud...more Ist recorded reading: September 2002

I had forgotten just how good this particular Brother Cadfael mystery is; I had read it in September, 2002, and remembered, as usual, very little of the book. But this is indeed one of the best ones, and is the one I would recommend to anyone who wished to read just one Brother Cadfael mystery.

In November of the Year of our Lord 1139, word comes to the Abbey of the sack of the town of Worcester. King Stephen is in possession of the Crown, but the Empress Maud holds the town of Gloucester, from whence those who attacked the town of Worcester came. Refugees from Worcester make their way to the Abbey; and on the last day of November word comes of three people who fled from the sack but who have not reappeared yet; the thirteen-year-old son and eighteen-year-old daughter of a deceased noble, who were under the care of the Benedictines of Worcester. They fled with the daughter’s tutor, one Sister Hilaria; and their noble uncle, Laurence d’Angers, cannot make search for them himself, because he is recently returned from the Crusades to his home town of Gloucester, and is thus considered an enemy of the Crown, not least because he is a supporter of the Empress Maud.

Thus matters stand until the fifth of December, with the snow laying deep across the countryside, when an urgent message comes to the Abbey at Shrewsbury, requesting Brother Cadfael’s aid; a monk has been brought half-dead to he priory of Bromfield, who had been beaten and left to die in the snow, and the Prior of Bromfield fears for the monk’s life. So Brother Cadfael makes his way forth into the snow to the priory of Bromfield; and for the rest of the book, it seems that every major character is going out into the snow for one purpose or another. Brother Cadfael hears of lawless men, who suddenly appear from somewhere to rape, kill, pillage, and burn at outlying settlements, and who apparently hope that the attention of King Stephen and the upholders of his law are concerned elsewhere; and it is Brother Cadfael who finds a young woman, wearing only her shift, dead and frozen into a stream. Whoever killed her put her into the stream before the last iron freeze, and her eyes gaze upward when Brother Cadfael looks down as he crosses over the stream.

Again, this is one of the best Brother Cadfael books (in my humble opinion), and is one that I regret having finished, even though I am now free to move to the next mystery in the series.(less)

like · see review

Jul 30, 2009 Ryan Patrick rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction-2009, historical-fiction

All of the Cadfael books move at a decent pace, but this one really sped along. The murder mystery, and the quest for its clues, was just one strand in a much larger plot. All the strands working together meant a lot of action occurred, without much pause. This made for quite an enjoyable read.

Peters has created a lot of enjoyable and memorable characters, and they keep coming back! While the enjoyment of the story might be slightly less if you haven't read the other books, it could still be en...more

like 1 like · see review

Jul 22, 2009 Curtiss rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Anyone

Shelves: all-time-favorites

My favorite of the Brother Cadfael chronicles in which the former crusader-turned-monk encounters his son by a young woman of Antioch, who has chosen to adopt the faith of his unknown father and joined a returning band of knights and men-at-arms.

Cadfael and the young man meet as both are searching for a sister and brother, lost during a winter storm, while at the same time renegade marauders are terrorizing the woods and fields around Shrewsbury. The young man's story reveals to Cadfael his true...more

like · see review

Jan 06, 2012 Karen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael series - set around 1000/1100, a Welsh man who had been with the Crusades, soldier/sailor, loved women etc settles down to retirement as a Benedictine monk, working as an apothecary within the abbey and the community, and assisting the sheriff with mysteries. He's a really wholesome character who understands people and life, not at all narrow and irritating. There is also a series of movies made based on these books with Derek Jacobi playing Brother Cadfael

like · see review

Sep 03, 2009 Sandra Strange rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, mysteries

These suspenseful stories include pinches of romance, devotion, and humor, as well as truly unique characters. The mysteries use as background superb portrayals of 12th Century England. The author is a noted Medieval scholar. Positive. Caution: the series is aimed at adults, not adolescents. Many themes of these mystery novels are ADULT themes, including rape, abuse of various sorts, etc. They are all positive, ultimately.

like · see review

Apr 11, 2013 Ann rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Somehow I erased this book from my bookshelf so am just re-adding it !! I love Chronicles of Bro. Cadfael ... Ellis Peters does a masterful job of capturing Medieval times and the sacredness of the church. This book is another one full of surprise twists and turns and while there is murder and mayhem aplenty, the reader is not left feeling torn and bloodied but warmed and comforted !

like · see review

Jun 15, 2012 Jo rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

I'm still on a Brother Cadfael kick! Another beautifully written tale, with well-drawn characters, medieval history, and Brother Cadfael, Benedictine monk, herbalist, ex-crusader, and all around good guy. Always a pleasure. This is the first book with Olivier de Bretagne-- and I won't spoil the experience by telling you who that is.

like · see review

Jul 20, 2012 Dagny rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-series, peters-ellis

In the Sixth Chronicle of Brother Cadfael, The Virgin in the Ice, it is the winter of 1139. This chronicle is one of the first ones I read and still a favorite. Three refugees of the feud between Maud and Stephen are missing. While Brother Cadfael is on another mission, he discovers clues to the fate of the missing travellers.

like 2 likes · see review

Feb 24, 2011 Katie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-mystery, time-medieval

A bit darker in subject matter than some of the other books in the Brother Cadfael series, but all the more realistic for that. (view spoiler)

like · see review

Aug 04, 2011 Hazel rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Brother Cadfael series by Ellis Peters is a wonderful set of mysteries that take place in 12th century England. Ellis Peters does a wonderful job of describing all the characters and she is a great mystery writer. The cases are complicated enough to make them interesting.

like · see review

Jul 28, 2010 Alice rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Can we fit another star into this lineup? This Brother Cadfael book was perfect. A tight plot, well paced: from the chilling discovery of the frozen maiden, to the swashbuckling sword fight at the outlaw fortress, to the surprising revelation at the end.

like · see review

Jan 08, 2009 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

An entertaining series about a 12th century monk who turns detective. These books were also turned into a PBS series. I enjoyed the historical perspective also, but the characters are well-developed and the last book is particularly good.

like · see review

May 26, 2012 Frode rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Another good book about Cadfael in which a loose end is tied up from his past. Enjoyable and interesting. The murder is solved nicely at the end after a red herring was drawn across the path about midway through the story. Nice ending!

like · see review

Dec 09, 2008 Marsha Thompson rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I saw this movie before reading the book. I really like the characters in the book better than the movie. The book (of course) is more true to the characters in the series. There is a lot given to honor and the church that I feel is missing in the movie but is handled well in the book. The damsel in distress is more likable in the book and I think that's important too. The story, as many novels turned to movies, isn't exactly right in the movie. However because it was close enough, I kept findin...more

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (31)

More editions...

Genres

Mystery

255 users

Historical Fiction

105 users

Mystery > Crime

43 users

Historical Fiction > Medieval

38 users

Mystery > Historical Mystery

26 users

Mystery > Detective

14 users

Thriller > Mystery Thriller

8 users

European Literature > British Literature

6 users

Mystery > Cozy Mystery

5 users

Thriller

2 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Ellis Peters

A pseudonym used by Edith Pargeter.

Edith Mary Pargeter, BEM (September 28, 1913 in Horsehay, Shropshire, England –October 14, 1995) was a prolific author of works in many categories, especially history and historical fiction, and was also honoured for her translations of Czech classics; she is probably best known for her murder mysteries, both historical and modern. Born in the village of Horsehay...more

More about Ellis Peters...

Books by Ellis Peters

A Morbid Taste for Bones (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael, #1)

The Leper of Saint Giles (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael #5)

One Corpse Too Many (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael, #2)

Monk's Hood (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael, #3)

St. Peter's Fair (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael #4)

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Die Jungfrau im Eis

4 trivia questions
1 quiz

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from The Virgin in the Ice

“Now have ado with a man!” — 2 people liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: The Virgin In the Ice
avg rating	preview: The Virgin In the Ice Goodreads rating: 4.07 (2646 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2191416.The_Virgin_In_the_Ice?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327718774l/2191416.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2191416.The_Virgin_In_the_Ice?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Virgin In the Ice by Ellis Peters[/url]

The Virgin In the Ice (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael #6)

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website