A review by bedneyauthor
The Devil's Novice by Ellis Peters

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

The Devil's Novice by Ellis Peters is another one of the Brother Cadfael medieval murder mysteries. It begins with the arrival of Meriet, a new novice at the monastery who insists that he wants to become a monk as quickly as possible, but doesn't fully explain why. It rapidly becomes clear that he has a very dark backstory and that he hasn't turned his back on the world nearly as much as he'd like those around him to believe.

While Cadfael is investigating Meriet's background, he meets his family and the members of his household and the mystery deepens, especially once the body of a murdered man is discovered.

I enjoy this story a lot; it's not the first time I've read it and it's always good. My favourite character is Cadfael's friend Brother Mark, who is as adorable as ever.

I won't go into spoilers, but I have to admit that I don't much like Isouda, Meriet's father's ward. I know it's common to describe a strong-willed girl as being too pushy, but I also feel like if you swapped the genders of Meriet and Isouda it would be extremely obvious why she was fleeing into a nunnery.

I recommend it for fans of relatively light-hearted murder mysteries.