Imagine this. You’ve chosen a simple life far from the confusion of today’s world, in the company of like-minded souls. That dream is shattered when someone dumps a body in one of your orchards. There’s no getting away from modern life now.

Father Ambrose is a hero-detective for our time. In a quiet, determined, modest way, he champions old-fashioned virtues. He wants justice to be served. He extends concern and caring to the accused. He reluctantly puts on the investigator hat to search for the truth. He courageously protects his community while seeing that it needs to change.
He tells Sheriff Charlie Cormley the body’s got nothing to do with them, but it’s not that easy. Against his own inclinations, he goes to find out what really happened and free New Life of suspicion. It takes him to places he never imagined, and life behind the gates will never be the same.

In the great tradition of Grantchester, the Rabbi Small mysteries and the Cadfael Chronicles, Life Without Shoes gives us a new kind of sleuth who brings wisdom and compassion to the problem of murder. It’s a story that reminds us that no one is perfect.

“New Life should be a place of rest and healing. So why would anyone dump a body in the orchards? Can the visionary Father Ambrose hold onto his own peace of mind, help his fragile community survive, and assist the police in catching a murderer? Life Without Shoes is a gentle newcomer in the world of clerical mysteries—welcome!” ~ Donna Fletcher Crow, The Monastery Murders