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awurdeman 's review for:
A Morbid Taste for Bones
by Ellis Peters
I liked this book well enough but probably won't continue reading the series. Its strengths are its protagonist, the colorful crusader-turned-gardener monk, Cadfael, who gives the series its name. The writing is also personable and cozy as it describes a long ago setting that, while probably miserable to live in, seems comfortable as depicted by Ellis' prose.
Unfortunately the plot never really grabbed me. Cadfael's abbey wants saintly relics to boost pilgrimage. They decide to request the bones of a saint in a nearby Welsh town. Conflict arises when some villagers don't want to give up the saint, and that conflict leads to murder.
I guess the book never felt like a page-turner, and it isn't really the sort of mystery you could decipher yourself if you were only clever enough. Cadfael does very little detective work. Instead, he and his cohort ask questions and use psychological methods to reveal guilt and secrets. That's a fine basis for a murder mystery, but I'm not sure it's what I'm looking for, so I'll probably skip future installments.
Unfortunately the plot never really grabbed me. Cadfael's abbey wants saintly relics to boost pilgrimage. They decide to request the bones of a saint in a nearby Welsh town. Conflict arises when some villagers don't want to give up the saint, and that conflict leads to murder.
I guess the book never felt like a page-turner, and it isn't really the sort of mystery you could decipher yourself if you were only clever enough. Cadfael does very little detective work. Instead, he and his cohort ask questions and use psychological methods to reveal guilt and secrets. That's a fine basis for a murder mystery, but I'm not sure it's what I'm looking for, so I'll probably skip future installments.