Reviews

The Raven In The Foregate by Ellis Peters

rscottm182gmailcom's review against another edition

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3.0

Pleasantly slow-moving evocation of life in the middle ages. Atmospheric, but not quite atmospheric enough. A simple quickly-solved mystery, not enough every day detail or character building to satisfy. Dialog is sometimes a little off, sounding stilted or contrived.

sandin954's review against another edition

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3.0

King Stephen is back on the throne of England but Brother Cadfael and company are more concerned with a local death. This is the first book in the series that I have actually read and, while I did miss Patrick Tull's narration, the mix of history and mystery along with the great characters made it an enjoyable and quick read.

mugglemom's review against another edition

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4.0

Ummm, the secret from book 10????

rebeccabadger's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

naylorjj's review against another edition

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4.0

The Cadfael books are comfort reads for me, and I enjoyed being with all the characters I’ve grown to love once again. Like previous books, this is taking place during the 12th century English civil war. The tolerance most characters are practicing in this story despite being on separate sides (Queen Maude vs King Stephen, clergy vs lay members of the community) is a nice change of pace from today’s political atmosphere. In a Cadfael story at least, compassion, tolerance, reason, and identifying we are all in this together rule the day.

ridesthesun's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.5

blueshadow's review against another edition

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4.0

3.5 stars - I couldn't decide between 3 and 4

3 stars - Kind of the same as all the other Brother Cadfael mysteries

4 stars - There were several fun moments in the story.

dominic_piacentini's review against another edition

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lighthearted mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

Christmas in Shrewsbury. Two dead priests: one will be missed, one certainly won’t be. 

Empress Maud sat upon her throne less than year before her cousin once again usurped her, reshuffling increasingly wary allegiances. I appreciate the entries in this series whose plots lean into the English Anarchy more deliberately. And here, we see another on-the-run Maud loyalist in disguise as an herbalist-in-training and smuggled into Wales with their newly found lover by none other than Brother Cadfael (This trope might be getting tired.) There are many similarities (and callbacks) to One Corpse Too Many, which is still the strongest in the series, but I don’t care. The pacing on this one is pitch perfect.

eososray's review

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4.0

When a new priest in a local village is found dead, just how much he didn't fit into village life becomes clear.
More than any of the other books in the series, Peters details how local prejudice and tradition can cause strife and heartache.

amigo_reads's review

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mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0