The Devil's Novice

The Eighth Chronicle of Brother Cadfael

By: Ellis Peters

Narrated by: Vanessa Benjamin

Outside the pale of the Abbey of Saint Peters and Saint Paul, in September of the year of our Lord 1140, a priestly emissary for King Stephen has been reported missing. But inside the pale, what troubles Brother Cadfael is a proud, secretive 19-year-old novice.
Brother Cadfael has never seen two men more estranged than the Lord of Aspley and Meriet, the son he coldly delivers to the abbey to begin a religious vocation. Meriet, meek by day, is so racked by dreams at night that his howls earn him the nickname the Devil's Novice. Shunned and feared, Meriet is soon linked to the missing priest's dreadful fate. Only Brother Cadfael believes in Meriet's innocence, and only the good sleuth can uncover the truth before a boy's pure passion, not evil intent, leads a novice to the noose.©1983 by Ellis Peters (P)1997 by Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"Each addition to the series is a joy. Long may the Chronicles continue." (USA Today)

BIG fan

Big fan of the whole series. a refreshing absence of violence and gratuitous sex...just good stories. ☺

production values

great story but had to sit on the volume control. Irritating to have to hold my phone the entire time

Loved these books.

I saw the TV series and I just enjoy the books so much. Wonderful.

Poor Narration Detracts from Story

Much of the enjoyment of listening to The Devil's Novice is compromised because of poor narration. Technically, it often sounds like the narrator has a blanket over her mouth. Artistically, she sounds like a little kid trying to sound like Daddy when she attempts to portray a male character. And why use a female voice to read a novel that is primarily a cast of Benedictine monks, anyway?

The story, though, is pure Cadfael and well worth listening to.

great read as usual

interesting plot and characters. really a good read. love brother cadfael and all the others at the A well written and recorded book.

Marvelous book

All of Ellis Peter’s novels are excellent. This one especially so. I highly recommend this beautifully written mystery.

Why is a woman narrating this tale?

I love the Brother Cadfael series, and the story here is wonderful. The problem here is the narration. The sound quality is awfully muffled, and why did they have a woman narrate a tale about monks, for heaven's sake! 95% of the characters are men! The narrator is constantly trying to emulate the sound of men's voices (far too much) rather than just reading the story. I hope other Brother Cadfael tales are different.

Bad narration

I had to stop listening because the narrator’s attempt to do a “male” voice was like fingernails on s blackboard. It is totally possible for a female to convey “male” without trying to reach into a lower range than she is capable of.

Great book but disappointing narration

I bought this book despite other poor reviews of the narration because I enjoy the stories of Brother Cadfael and this was the only version available on Audible. I nearly returned it because the narration was so annoying. Why use a female for a book largely about male characters? In order to make the characters sound masculine the raises her voice, which leads to very uneven volume throughout the book between the narrative and the spoken sections. This was particularly annoying when listening in the car as it was hard to hear some parts. It was a pity she couldn't use a Welsh accent for Brother Cadfael. Please Audible, make versions of these books available in Australia with a male narrator. Those that are available by Stephen Thorne are excellent.

Keep Your Hand on the Volume

Couldn't get pass Chapter 3 and I like Brother Cadfael series. The performance was just off. When speaking a line said by a character, I had to turn the volume down. Yet when the narration moved on to the narrative portion, I had to turn the volume way back up. The alternating between being yelled out and whispered at was just to much to bear.