This is book 12 of the "Brother Cadfael" series.

This note contains spoilers for the book.

The twelfth chronicle of Brother Cadfael -- as it says on the cover of this UK paperback; which is a breakthrough, as until shortly earlier they didn't even list prior books of a series in order in the book.

A new and much-hated priest assigned to the parish church doesn't last three months before he turns up dead. Suspicion falls on a man who came with him and is a novice in the monastery -- he's even been denounced as a traitor.

There is in fact much political intrigue, fallout of the civil war going on. But the priest wasn't murdered, actually. Quite.