A Morbid Taste for Bones (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael, #1)

by Ellis Peters

In 1137 the ambitious head of Shrewsbury Abbey has decided to acquire the remains of Saint Winifred for his Benedictine order. Brother Cadfael is part of the expedition sent to her final resting place in Wales and they find the villagers passionately divided by the Benedictines' offer for the saint's relics. Canny, wise and all too worldly, Cadfael isn't surprised when this taste for bones leads to bloody murder. The leading opponent to moving the grave has been shot dead with a mysterious arrow, and some say Winifred herself dealt the blow. Brother Cadfael knows that a carnal hand did the killings, but he doesn't know that his plan to unearth a murderer may dig up a case of love and justice, where the wages of sin may be scandal - or his own ruin.

• ISBN10: 0333223241
• ISBN13: 9780333223246
• Publish Date: 5 December 1991 (first published August 1979)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 9 January 1997
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Pan Macmillan
• Imprint: Macmillan
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 192
• Language: English

Reviews

[Aidan Brack (Mysteries Ahoy)]

Personally I still enjoy the book immensely, in large part because I do find the religious politics so interesting and also because I liked the characterization of several supporting characters. I do recognize though that such things have a fairly narrow appeal and I would certainly not suggest that just because a book is historically significant means that it should be liked. Its popularity in the nineties was exaggerated and I think its ubiquity is at least partly responsible for the subsequent backlash against it.

Read my full review at Mysteries Ahoy!

[MurderByDeath]

Well, of course I liked it - mom is never wrong about mysteries.  The writing is great, which allows the story to go at a slower pace without being deadly dull.   Brother Cadfael is a Benedictine monk in medieval England and has come late to the cloistered, monastic life after a youth spent adventuring.  Content, he still allows himself to be recruited for a trip to Wales as official translator, on a quest to bring back the bones of a saint.  Receiving the consent of both the bishop and the prince it does't occur to monks that perhaps the village housing St. Winifred's bones might not be inclined to let her go.   The resulting murder was plotted well and the resolution kind of fiendish, really. Where is plotting like this nowadays?  I thoroughly like Brother Cadfael for his pragmatic outlook and intelligence.   My only quibble with the book is the errors in the catechism, but I'm left unsure whether Peters did this on purpose or out of ignorance. Saints aren't worshipped, they aren't to be revered; they're meant to serve as roll models and to offer intercession on behalf of one who asks for it.  As someone who has been called an idolator, I'm a little sensitive on this point.  I'm inclined to believe Peters did this knowingly, as there are at least two points in the story where the Welsh priest gently clarifies the difference, but the overriding narrative does nothing to definitively correct this misconception.   Putting this aside though, the book was good, more than good enough to make me want to read the next one.