A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters

It’s funny but older mystery writers like Poe, Wilkie Collins, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle were more loose wth their diction, syntax, and dialogue. Peters was popular in that era so now I wonder if educators were mimicking her style.

At school in the 70s and 80s, we often had short reading assignments in this style which caused me to steer away from it. Peters’ writing style is more formal and descriptive than I’m used to. I must have read or watched over 100 stories about Scots but I can only remember one other notable Welsh character (actually, as I edit this, that’s not true–a character from Gil Mayo was Welsh). I’m not an authority on Welsh history or 12th century monks but Peter’s descriptions seemed authentic. When the landowner is found dead, Cadfael must work to uncover the killer or an innocent man will be blamed.

The local inhabitants, led by a powerful landowner, oppose moving Winifred, despite the approval of the Welsh prince and bishop. Winifred, currently buried in Wales.Īs a native of Wales, Cadfael is selected to go with the monks to exhume Winifred’s body. The Abbey’s reputation is diminished because it is without a major relic, and, after a seeming miracle, seeks to take the bones of St. The novel follows Brother Cadfael, a monk of Shrewsbury Abbey in 1137. However, based on the television series, I was expecting more of a focus on the mystery. That is NOT a bad thing–I’ve lost track of how many mysteries I’ve read over the years but this might be the only book centered on Wales. With Gil Mayo, the series was comic but the books were solemn.Ī Morbid Taste for Bones felt like its priorities were first in describing the intricacies of 12th-century Welsh society, second in describing the Welsh landscape, third in religious details of English monasteries, and fourth in developing the mystery. Once again, the books weren’t bad but had a different feel than the tv series. Again, I feel like a philistine but, in a weird way, it’s almost gratifying that this can happen more than once–I liked the television show more than the books.

A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters