Barney Craig

After spending eight years in prison for a crime he did not commit - the murder of his wife - John Madson has been released and wants revenge on the policeman that framed him, Det. Insp. Rourke. He meets Magda, a feisty barrister, who is willing to help him exact his revenge legally and also gets him a job as an outside clerk in her chambers. As the wheels of justice grind slowly forward, Madson starts to rebuild his life and feels the need to help other clients of Magda who the law appears to be treating unfairly.

Brother Cadfael is a twelfth-century Anglo-Welsh monk. A retired crusader disappointed in love, and now a herbalist in charge of the gardens of Shrewsbury Abbey, Brother Cadfael is often called on to solve murders and other crimes in and around Shrewsbury, Shropshire, in the border country where England meets Wales.