[JD7]≡ Libro Gratis A Morbid Taste for Bones Ellis Peters 9780446400152 Books

A Morbid Taste for Bones Ellis Peters 9780446400152 Books

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A Morbid Taste for Bones Ellis Peters 9780446400152 Books

This 12th century mystery series by Ellis Peters take place in a fog of civil war, where the English and Welsh were raiding each other’s borders and supporting one or another claimant to the English throne: Empress Maude or King Stephen. In spite of the ongoing violence, the author suffuses her novels with a deep sense of peace and contentment in the monastic life. A monk from the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul at Shrewsbury, Brother Cadfael is her solver of murders and mysteries of the heart. There has never been a more clear-headed, generous detective in all of mystery literature. Cadfael doesn't preach like GK Chesterton's Father Brown, but actually lives his religion, and casts a forgiving eye on the minor peccadilloes (especially those committed in the name of love) of his friends and neighbors.

In this first novel in a series of 21 mysteries, "A Morbid Taste for Bones," one of Brother Cadfael's fellow monks sees a vision of the Welsh Saint Winifred pleading for her remains to be transported to their Shrewsbury Abbey, where she will be properly venerated--and the abbey will prosper from the pilgrims attracted to her relics.

(Saint Winifred was an actual 7th century Welsh Christian who was decapitated by a frustrated suitor. Her head was re-attached to her body by her uncle, another Welsh saint, and Winifred returned to life and became a nun and an abbess at Gwytherin in Denbigshire.)

Cadfael is skeptical about the convenient vision, but is sent along with the monks who are tasked to acquire Saint Winifred's bones from her grave, because he is a native Welsh speaker.

The monkish party makes the pilgrimage to Gwytherin only to find many of the villagers passionately opposed to losing their saint. A murder is committed, and Brother Cadfael must sift through the many possible suspects, both English and Welsh. His past life as a ship's captain and Crusader is skillfully woven into this 12th century whodunit, as is the rich tapestry of everyday life on the Welsh border. This book's ending was satisfying on many levels, not just the discovery of the murderer. Once I read "A Morbid Taste for Bones" I was hooked on the whole series, and both my husband, a medieval history major, and I have read and reread the Cadfael books many times.


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A Morbid Taste for Bones Ellis Peters 9780446400152 Books Reviews

This is the first in the Brother Cadfael series. I first encountered the good Brother Cadfael on the PBS Mystery series. I really enjoyed the series, which starred Derek Jacobi as Brother Cadfael.

It seemed a good time to try reading the novels the TV show was made from, and I am reading them in order. In this first book, we meet the occupants of the Dominican abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. First and foremost, we meet Brother Cadfael. He's a Welshman, and before becoming a monk, he was a soldier. This makes him much more worldly-wise than his fellow monks. He's also a little more tolerant of sinners than most of his fellows.

He can be disappointed by his fellow humans, as he is sometimes in this book. He is sent to Wales, as translator for a group sent there to bring the bones of Saint Winifred back to the monestary.

I found this novel every bit as enjoyable as the TV series. Ellis Peters drew a believable portrait of Medieval England. It might not be the same as you learned in school. It certainly isn't the Medieval England I was taught about in school! But since I was in school, we've learned more, and indeed the people of that time were every bit as clever as we are today. The voices in the novel sound reasonably modern to my ear. Since this is not work of scholarship, I will admit to being glad of that. It is a book for modern people, even if it is about medieval people.
I love the Cadfael PBS series. The book was better, richer and had more twists and turns. Of course, I could see Derek Jacobi in my minds eye and hear his voice with every utterance of the medieval sleuth.

That did not at all detract from this story and the mystery around the death of a Welsh lord. The interposition of the underhanded dirty tricks by the clergy was humorous and then not so much as they double dealing gets a bit out of hand. The villagers are interesting and so important to the telling of the story. The Welsh character is portrayed through the actions of so many of the village as is the general character of the English. That in itself provides some of the frisson that activates this story.

The descriptions of the landscape is lush and the descriptions of the people are engaging.

This was such a good book, I told my husband I want the entire series as a present. We'll see what happens....
Edith Pargeter as Ellis Peters writes so beautifully and has researched so well the historical details of time and place for the 12th century setting that is Brother Cadfael's. This alone makes them worth reading as historical fiction and worth reading in order since the story of various characters (including historical personages) continues from book to book. Brother Cadfael's time at Shrewsbury Abbey in England coincides with the struggle between Henry's daughter Maude and her cousin Stephen for the kingship of England. Pargeter's Brother Cadfael is a sympathetic, complex man who in 20+ books and stories never gets boring, repetitive or annoying as he solves crimes and mysteries that impinge on Abbey life. There wasn't much technically for solving crimes so clues occur at the level of motivation and psychology and a few tell-tale stains. Cadfael came as an older man to the monastic life so brought with him an interesting past as a crusader and world traveler. Even if Cadfael is now a monk in a monkish setting there is often a satisfying romantic story in the plot and this book is no exception. ( a young woman's suitor is rejected by her guardian and is in jeopardy of being hanged for a serious crime. Cadfael must make things so smoothly for the couple, dispose of an inconvenient body and placate an angry Welsh town whose local saint is about to be carried off to an English Abbey against their wishes.) But the details of the plot don't begin to do justice to the quality of the story and the storytelling.
This 12th century mystery series by Ellis Peters take place in a fog of civil war, where the English and Welsh were raiding each other’s borders and supporting one or another claimant to the English throne Empress Maude or King Stephen. In spite of the ongoing violence, the author suffuses her novels with a deep sense of peace and contentment in the monastic life. A monk from the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul at Shrewsbury, Brother Cadfael is her solver of murders and mysteries of the heart. There has never been a more clear-headed, generous detective in all of mystery literature. Cadfael doesn't preach like GK Chesterton's Father Brown, but actually lives his religion, and casts a forgiving eye on the minor peccadilloes (especially those committed in the name of love) of his friends and neighbors.

In this first novel in a series of 21 mysteries, "A Morbid Taste for Bones," one of Brother Cadfael's fellow monks sees a vision of the Welsh Saint Winifred pleading for her remains to be transported to their Shrewsbury Abbey, where she will be properly venerated--and the abbey will prosper from the pilgrims attracted to her relics.

(Saint Winifred was an actual 7th century Welsh Christian who was decapitated by a frustrated suitor. Her head was re-attached to her body by her uncle, another Welsh saint, and Winifred returned to life and became a nun and an abbess at Gwytherin in Denbigshire.)

Cadfael is skeptical about the convenient vision, but is sent along with the monks who are tasked to acquire Saint Winifred's bones from her grave, because he is a native Welsh speaker.

The monkish party makes the pilgrimage to Gwytherin only to find many of the villagers passionately opposed to losing their saint. A murder is committed, and Brother Cadfael must sift through the many possible suspects, both English and Welsh. His past life as a ship's captain and Crusader is skillfully woven into this 12th century whodunit, as is the rich tapestry of everyday life on the Welsh border. This book's ending was satisfying on many levels, not just the discovery of the murderer. Once I read "A Morbid Taste for Bones" I was hooked on the whole series, and both my husband, a medieval history major, and I have read and reread the Cadfael books many times.