When her husband dies, Judith Perle bestows a house to the Abbey of Shrewsbury. The only rent: a single white rose to be delivered annually on the translation of St. Winifred. But someone, it seems, will stop at nothing to prevent payment of the rose.
And in the summer of 1142, the rose is hacked down, and lying beside it, equally hacked, is a murdered man. For Brother Cadfael, the hunt is on...