Rating: 
Summary: Cadfael triumphs in Peters' adventure
Review: "Brother Cadfael had long been up before Prime, pricking out cabbage seedlings before the day was aired, and his thoughts were all on birth, growth, and fertility, not at all on graves and reliquaries and violent deaths...." Thus we meet Ellis Peters' inimitable monk in the initial episode of her long-running Brother Cadfael series. "A Morbid Taste for Bones" begins a series that has collected untold readers who feel that the series is also a crusade for themselves! It is the twelfth century and throughout Britain, thoughts are on the civil war that is going on between King Stephen and the Empress Maud, twelve years of internecine struggle that, as civil wars are wont to do, has deeply divided the people. And at the Benedictine monastery in Shrewsbury, Cadfael has settled down to a life of monastic devotion, following a career as a crusader to the Holy Land. His is a past that at first seems incongruent with the life of a monk, but God works His wonders in many ways, and, as no sinner is beyond God's mercy, as Cadfael likes to say, he has now found his place on earth. "(He) himself found nothing strange in his wide-ranging career, and had forgotten nothing and regretted nothing. He saw no contradiction in the delight he had taken in battle and adventure, and the keen pleasure he now found in quietude." He is a specialist in medicinal herbs and is in charge of the herbarium; he is a man of God gifted in logic and fair-play; he is a man of great understanding and compassion; and he is no fool. In "A Morbid Taste for Bones," Cadfael is assigned by his prior to lead a delegation to a small village in Wales to acquire the bones of their patron saint, Saint Winifred. As Cadfael was born in Wales and naturally speaks the language, he is the top choice of the priory. But retrieving the relics is no simple task, as Peters displays, and before long a murder is discovered. Cadfael's expertise comes in handy, as "his skills as a herbalist are matched by his prowess as a detective." And with Peters' abilities as a Grade A novelist, the reader is kept spell-bound until the final pages of this medieval thriller, a story well-developed and strongly-paced. It is a literary journey well worth the price! The author is the recipient of the Crime Writers' Association/Cartier Diamond Dagger Award for her Cadfael books, and has written a number of other works, including her Inspector Felse series. Billyjhobbs@tyler.net
Rating:
Summary: MY HERO!
Review: A good friend recommended this character to me, and claimed that once I had encountered what he called "Cadfael-humour", I'd be hooked! How true this was! Cadfael is a monk after my heart! - This is truely my new hero! And it has given me something to read on these long, dark and bitterly cold nights we have here in Denmark! I give my new hero the warmest of recommendations, - and promise that I will read all of the chronicles!
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Summary: A Journey Through a Decade
Review: A Morbid Taste For Bones is the start of a 20-book series about Brother Cadfael. The Cadfael books are absorbing reads, as others here have stated. I would like to add that you will enjoy the series so much more if you read the books in order. They chronicle the decade of civil war in England, between the factions of King Stephen and the Empress Maud. The books always have the ongoing story of this, in a little history lesson, usually at the beginning of the book. It can be complicated history for those coming to it, as I did, uninformed. But we are taken through the war years with these stories, and in chronological order, they tell the story of the civil war, along with the mystery of each book. Also, the characters and their relationships develop along the way. Hugh Beringer comes into the picture early in the series and eventually becomes deputy to the sheriff, who is loyal to King Stephen. Hugh and Brother Cadfael begin their relationship with suspicion, but they come to respect each other for the intelligence and integrity each has. Hugh meets and marries Aileen, has a baby boy, and, around the ninth book, becomes the sheriff of Shrewsbury. By this time Cadfael and Hugh are fast friends. Cadfael has his own secrets, little episodes of his life in the Crusades, that catch up with him during the series...but not right away. Later in the series, Cadfael confides in his dear friend Hugh, also relating the secret of this first book, Morbid Taste For Bones, which Hugh had not been privy to before. I just loved this series, and I tend to think of it as one *really big* book! So do read all 20, and read them in order. They are all available, and all except one (The Hermit of Eyton Forest, no. 14) tell which number it is in the order, right on the front cover. Brother Cadfael is one of the most endearing characters ever created. Lose yourself with him in 12th century England when you need a break from the 20th or 21st century.
Rating:
Summary: Great introduction to the Cadfael series
Review: An English monastery's plan to bring back the bones of a Welsh saint runs into a deadly complication in this undemanding mystery. The setting, medieval England and Wales in the early 12th Century, is no obstacle to enjoying the stroy since the author provides all the historical background and the reader need only supply a little imagination. I found "Bones" worth my while largely because of the vivid characterizations and the way it brings the Middle Ages to life. One detail I especially liked was that Brother Cadfael had no regrets about his former life as a soldier in the Crusades. Quick take: While it keeps your attention, "Bones" won't make you stay up half the night to finish it.
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty Good for Light Entertainment
Review: An English monastery's plan to bring back the bones of a Welsh saint runs into a deadly complication in this undemanding mystery. The setting, medieval England and Wales in the early 12th Century, is no obstacle to enjoying the stroy since the author provides all the historical background and the reader need only supply a little imagination. I found "Bones" worth my while largely because of the vivid characterizations and the way it brings the Middle Ages to life. One detail I especially liked was that Brother Cadfael had no regrets about his former life as a soldier in the Crusades. Quick take: While it keeps your attention, "Bones" won't make you stay up half the night to finish it.
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Summary: BONES OF CONTENTION
Review: Any Brother Cadfael mystery is a treat--even a privilege to read. This medieval monk solves murders, thefts, and resolves deceptions and missing persons cases--using his wits, his wordly experience, plus his vast knowledge of medicinal herbs and human nature. The tales are set in late 12th century Enlgand not far from the Welsh border. Sturdy Welshman himself, our cowled protagonist is a former Crusader who discovered "in the middle of the road of life" his calling to the monastic community; that he could best serve his fellow man by seriving God first. In this case in the Benedictine order, at the Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in Shrewsbury (a real place). In this debut novel (read in my case after # 6-21) we find a somewhat secular Cadfael, which jars my conception of him as revealed in Peters' subsequent works. (I understand that she did not originally envision an entire series.) He indulges freely in the cameraderie of the wine jug, recalls w! ith fondness a long list of satisfied women, and openly admires an attractive Welsh girl. Fortunately his secular tendencies mellow out during the six months that pass (murderless, we assume) between novels. (I wonder if he ever noticed that fatal pattern...) This story concerns the long-interred bones of a maiden saint named Winifrid of Gwytherin, Wales. The message may be: Let Sleeping Saints Lie, but the vaulting ambition of Prior Robert ruthlessly tramples common courtesy and decency. Aided by his staunch toady, Brother Jerome, and an ardent young novice, Brother Columbanus who experiences episodes of religious zeal and ecstacy, Robert insists that Winifrid's remains be transported to England--a country and tongue alien to her in life--to serve as a beacon for pilgrims. For the renown and coffers of the Abbey of course... although he will gladly accept any reflected glory for his humble efforts, which just might advance his career. But what is the will of the peo! ple of Gwytherin, this peaceful hamlet in Wales--until the ! Benedictines laid seige to the bones of their patroness? And more to the point, what is the will of the saint herself: will she choose a champion to speak for her? Cadfael is caught in the middle of these delicate negociations--brought along as interpreter of his native, Welsh tongue. He must outwardly support the efforts to remove the saint from her people, yet he privately believes that the martyred girl deserves to rest in her native land. Can mere mortals manipulate miracles for their own--selfish or benevolent--ends? Cadfael takes a hand in balancing the scales of spiritual justice. An excellent premier novel for a fabulous series!
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Summary: The first Cadfael and a great mystery
Review: As with many books or stories that we get involve with, the characters and their relationships to others in the environment is an important as the mystery. Ellis Peters strikes a balance between the characters, history and the mystery. Sprinkled throughout is faith, and a chance that thy (the monks) may be correct in the explanation of saints and how the world works.
The external environment is the ongoing struggle between Empress Maude and King Stephen. We also have references to the different societies as they travel to Wales. These become more relevant as the series progresses. The inward struggle between faith and power is depicted as an individual monk is persuaded or wants to be persuaded to go on a mission to retrieve a neglected saint.
If you saw the movie you will immediately see the differences between it and he book. One main point is the fact that the monk was cured before the trip. The best difference is reviled with the detection and solution to the mystery.
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Summary: Ladies and Gentleman.... Brother Cadfael
Review: Brother Cadfael introduced to us by Ellis Peters in a Morbid Taste for Bones is a brother at Saint Peter and Saint Paul Benedictine abbey in Shrewsbury. Cadfael has seen his share of the world before entering abbey life. He fought in the crusades and has known his share of women. Cadfael knows what he gives up by joining the abbey and what he has to gain. Ellis Peters offers us a completely likable sleuth, with Brother Cadfaiel and educates the reader about the time in England when Maud and Stephen fight for the throne. She presents characters with the human frailties familiar to the modern reader, but puts them in a twelfth century setting. We are able to learn the tension which exists between the Welsh and the English at the time. The mystery involves the death of an opponent to the moving of Saint Winifred from her home in Wales to Shrewsbury. The mystery itself is intriguing, but not mind boggling. It is the characters and the setting that draws the reader. We become involved in the politics of the abbey with monks vying for top position. This is an interesting and entertaining start of a series. Medieval fans should be delighted. For those who love cozies this is a good series to entertain and educate.
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Summary: Good start to an epic pilgramage
Review: Ellis Peter's first Cadfael murder mystery takes as its setting the events surrounding the translation of the holy relics of Saint Winifred from the remote Welsh village of Gwytherin to the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in Shrewsbury in 1138. Taking this real event as her starting point, Peters weaves an enchanting if rather overly romanticised tale of mediaeval rural and monastic life. Naturally, the practical common sense and basic human decency of her very worldy central character, Brother Cadfael, win out in the end. Here, he neatly side-steps all of many power-struggles - secular, political and ecclesiastical - going on around him, to provide everyone with their heart's desire and solve the inevitable murder mystery into the bargain! Ellis Peters' writing style is so wonderfully erudite that one can always forgive her the occasional lapse into stereotypical characterisation or silliness of plot which tend to pepper her novels. "A Morbid Taste for Bones" is no exception in this regard, and whilst the story's central murder mystery is not at all hard for the reader to solve, the telling of it is so captivating that the book is hard to put down until it's finished! Incidentally, I would recommend reading this book before any others in the series, because otherwise you will know which of the main suspects can be eliminated immediately! Of course, if you've seen the TV dramatisation, you'll know the main outcome already, but even then, the book is sufficiently different to still make it well worth reading. Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Cadfael scores again
Review: Having just visited the Abbey at Shrewsbury, the setting for the Cadfael books, and having had a guide who was very knowledgable about the Cadfael books, I read this one on the plane back to the USA and was enthralled. One warning: the Cadfael series on TV was filmed in Hungary, and TV's 'Shrewsbury Abbey' looks nothing like the real thing.
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