Plot

Liliwin is a poor acrobat hired to entertain at an Aurifaber wedding. But when he is dismissed and the master of the house is found unconscious and robbed, Cadfael must find the real thief before the mob takes vengeance.

Lilwin, a traveling minstrel, entertains at the wedding feast of the son of wealthy Walter Aurifaber but incurs the wrath of the bride's grandmother when he accidentally breaks a piece of crockery. When the wealthy man is apparently bludgeoned to death and a great deal of money stolen, suspicion falls on the young man, who becomes the sparrow of the title when he seeks sanctuary at the abbey from an angry mob. Although it later turns out that Aurifaber survived his attacker, further complications arise from Lilwin's romantic involvement with one of the household's serving girls, the murder of a blackmailing gossip, and the rivalry between the young bride and her controlling sister-in-law.—Gabe Taverney (duke1029@aol.com)

A traveling minstrel and juggler, Lilwin, becomes the object of the mob's wrath after a wealthy goldsmith, Walter Aurifaber, is struck on the head and his money stolen. Lilwin was entertaining at the wedding feast for Walter's son Daniel and had an altercation with the new groom. In fleeing from the crowd, Lilwin seeks sanctuary in the church. All is not well in the Aurifaber home. Newlywed son Daniel is having an affair and his new bride is in a constant battle with her sister-in-law over who will be mistress of the house. Cadfael believes Lilwin to be innocent and sets about to find the real thief. When a village gossip is found dead however, the monk has a murder to investigate.—garykmcd

When Shrewsbury's goldsmith is robbed and left for dead, drunken locals decide the guilty party must be Liliwin, an itinerant juggler who was performing at the wedding feast of the goldsmith's son. The mob pursues the young man through the streets to the abby where he seeks sanctuary. Cadfael believes Liliwin is innocent, but his seaerch for the truth leads to the discovery of an even deadlier sin. (from DVD jacket)