Reviews

One Corpse Too Many by Ellis Peters

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english_lady03's review

4.0

Great story from the godmother of Medieval Mysteries Ellis Peters. Her real name was of course Edith Pargeter.

I've seen the television adaption of this novel, the first episode of season one of Cadfael many times, and it turns out it was quite a faithful adaptation. Although the downside of TV adaptations is they tend to leave out a lot in terms of character development, and that was the case with Cadfael.

Nothing more is heard of Aline Siward after Episode one. They should not have left it like that, and at least mentioned that she married Hugh Beringar.

One think I like about the Cadfael series is that Pargeter was a historian. She was very familiar with the period and setting, and as such the books are very authentic. Yet they 'wear' it lightly, and it all comes over as very natural. I've read other historical novels in which the period details come over as superficial, or read like a school history lesson. Dropped in to show off learning.

Not so here. Well worth a read, especially if you've watched the series. The audiobook narrator, Stephen Thorne, also does an excellent job. Although I understand that some of the audio versions of the later novels in the series are narrated by Brother Cadfael himself- or rather Derek Jacobi.

The Kindle editions and paperbacks have some material the audiobooks lack, including a handy glossary and a Welsh pronunciation guide.

lilacs_book_bower's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

A nice mystery, interesting setting, I am not sure if the solution was well done or not, but EXCELLENT character work done by Ellis, and I really enjoyed several characters in the book.