My Thoughts on the Novel, A Morbid Taste for Bones (The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael Book 1)...

A mystery. Set in the 12th Century. In England and Wales. With a Benedictine monk as the detective. Now this is a formula for success. And enjoyment. And enjoy the novel I did.

A Morbid Taste for Bones (The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael Book 1), by Ellis Peters, is a story about aristocratic overreach and a resulting murder. The St. Peter and St. Paul Monastery in Shrewsbury, England, is missing something. Or should I say, without something. Every other abbey in England boasts the possession of saintly remains. Yes, that’s right: everyone else possesses the mortal remains of deceased saints except one little old cloister. Hence, the title. Jealous much? I thought that envy was a sin.

The prior of the monastery, Robert, catches wind that the remains of St. Winifred lie in Gwytherin, a town in Wales. Of course, Robert requires these remains to be under his care, in his monastery. He obtains the necessary aristocratic and ecclesiastical approvals and leads a small group of monks to this quaint Welsh town, where they find that the residents are firmly against relocating their patron saint. One citizen in particular, Rhisiart, a local lord, steps out and speaks loudly.

Then he winds up murdered. Go figure.

Fingers point, mostly at the visiting monks. Brother Cadfael, with the help of Rhisiart’s daughter Sioned, seeks to find answers and the truth. I will reveal no more. Suffice it to say the perpetrator is apprehended, sort of, and a resolution emerges.

I highly recommend this book to readers of mystery and historical fiction. I have already added the second book, One Corpse Too Many, to my TBR. There was one season of this series filmed, with Derek Jacobi (I, Claudius), as the titular monk. But that was it. One season. I hope some production company seeks a reboot.