The Brother Cadfael Chronicles

Given that I'm generally a fan of monastic medieval mysteries, I'm not sure why it has taken me this long to finally read Cadfael! Perhaps I was unduly biased against Derek Jacobi's rarely smiling face in the promotions for the TV series in the 90s. My mother pushed me toward Peter Tremayne's (aka Peter Ellis -- now THAT's confusing/strange) Sister Fidelma series, which I love, but somehow did not seem interested in Cadfael. I'm going to guess renegade Celtic nun beat out male Crusader-turned-monk in my mother's hierarchy of protagonists/sleuths.

I adored it--the audiobook, narrated by Patrick Tull, was wonderful in picking up the subtle wit of Cadfael's thoughts and generally didn't feel it necessarily to inject gendered artifice into the voicings, relying more upon character differentiation. Many of the characters were surprisingly loveable -- including the good-natured and impish Brother John, and Father Huw--the parish priest at Gwytherin. I also appreciated that it was four chapters before anyone died (it is a mystery, so that's not a spoiler!) It did make it a bit predictable as to who would be the victim, but it was refreshing to have so much character building first. I might quibble with the end -- a bit too much effort to ensure we get closure on the various subplots, but it is a small quibble. The pro-Welsh quips and writing of scenic detail more than make up for it. I'm excited to read the rest of the series (finally!) ( )

Brother Cadfael, a middle-aged monk, who came to the Church in his early forties seeking a quiet life in prayer and gardening, resides at the monastery in Shrewsbury. The Prior has a desire to see the monastery possess the bones of a Saint to increase its prestige. Following a monk's seizure and another's dream they determine a likely Saint in Wales and a delegation heads off. Brother Cadfael is sent as interpreter. The town who has the Saint however is reluctant to give up her bones. It is an interesting mix of religion, superstition, and deception that brings things to a satisfactory conclusion. Good story. ( )

An entertaining read, with very good setting and characterization (although the way of thinking of some of the character was not very medieval). On the other hand, the mystery was somewhat lackluster. Few ingenious deductions in this one. ( )

Prior Robert of Shrewsbury Abbey convinces his fellow monks that they need the bones of Welsh Saint Winifred as a relic for the Abbey. Several of the brothers are selected to go to Wales to retrieve Saint Winifred’s remains, and Brother Cadfael is chosen because he speaks Welsh. The Shrewsbury party meets with some opposition from Rhisiart, an influential landowner, and then Rhisiart is killed. Brother Cadfael believes there is more to the murder than meets the eye, but he must tread carefully in his quest to unmask the killer lest his efforts cause more harm than good.

I started reading this series with the second book, One Corpse Too Many, because it was the first one that came into my hands. I was told by other LT members at the time that this was probably a good thing, because this first book lacks some supporting characters who make their first appearance in One Corpse Too Many. Having finally read the first book, I now know that the advice I received was spot on. This turned out to be a great way to experience this series – start with book #2 and treat book #1 as a prequel to pick up somewhere along the journey. ( )