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A review by dunnettreader
A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters
5.0
This is a re-read for me. I first started reading the Brother Cadfael mysteries in the late 70's and 80's. Kenny and I actually visited Shrewsbury Abbey, what's left of it, and saw the shrine to St. Winifred on a long-ago trip to England.
'A Morbid Taste for Bones' is the first introduction to that wise and experienced monk, Brother Cadfael. He is a humble member of Shrewsbury Abbey where he tends the gardens and ministers to the sick with herbs and potions. But Cadfael is no ordinary monk. Now in his fifties, he came to his vocation late, after an adventurous life in the world as a crusader in the Holy Land. This life experience gives Cadfael a more expansive view of the world and human nature than most of his fellow Benedictines.
In this introductory novel, the goal of finding a saint who will provide relics and a reason for pilgrims to come to Shrewsbury has become the obsession of Prior Robert. After a bit of research and the fortuitous fainting fits of Brother Columbanus, it is announced that St. Winifred has visited one of the monks in a dream and she desires to have her bones brought to the Abbey. A party of monks soon sets off for the village of Gwytherin in Wales, carrying a reliquary cask for the saint's relics with them. Cadfael is assigned to the party since the he is a native Welshman. Once they have arrived at the village, the monks find that the residents are not eager to surrender their little saint. Harsh words are spoken, followed by a murder in the forest. It is up to Brother Cadfael to sort out the truth of what happened, and along the way help two pairs of young lovers caught in the web of intrigue.
The mystery is not the point of the story, although it is engaging. Ellis Peters excels in setting her tale firmly in the world of 12th century England and Wales. She portrays the life of the monastery and the Welsh village with interesting details and characters bursting with life.
Highly recommended. If you like this one, there are twenty more in the series.
'A Morbid Taste for Bones' is the first introduction to that wise and experienced monk, Brother Cadfael. He is a humble member of Shrewsbury Abbey where he tends the gardens and ministers to the sick with herbs and potions. But Cadfael is no ordinary monk. Now in his fifties, he came to his vocation late, after an adventurous life in the world as a crusader in the Holy Land. This life experience gives Cadfael a more expansive view of the world and human nature than most of his fellow Benedictines.
In this introductory novel, the goal of finding a saint who will provide relics and a reason for pilgrims to come to Shrewsbury has become the obsession of Prior Robert. After a bit of research and the fortuitous fainting fits of Brother Columbanus, it is announced that St. Winifred has visited one of the monks in a dream and she desires to have her bones brought to the Abbey. A party of monks soon sets off for the village of Gwytherin in Wales, carrying a reliquary cask for the saint's relics with them. Cadfael is assigned to the party since the he is a native Welshman. Once they have arrived at the village, the monks find that the residents are not eager to surrender their little saint. Harsh words are spoken, followed by a murder in the forest. It is up to Brother Cadfael to sort out the truth of what happened, and along the way help two pairs of young lovers caught in the web of intrigue.
The mystery is not the point of the story, although it is engaging. Ellis Peters excels in setting her tale firmly in the world of 12th century England and Wales. She portrays the life of the monastery and the Welsh village with interesting details and characters bursting with life.
Highly recommended. If you like this one, there are twenty more in the series.