by Ellis Peters
published in 1977*
audiobook: 9 hours
narrated by Patrick Tull
*** About the Book ***
In this first book in the lengthy 11th century Brother Cadfael mystery series, we meet Brother Cadfael at his monastery, tending the garden. Cadfael is not your traditional monk, having chosen to take orders in his later years after a full life as a warrior. Because of his background he sees the world around him - including the people in it - differently than his brother monks.The adventure begins when the Abbot sends a delegation to Wales to retrieve the bones of a saint and bring them to the monastery. The people of the Welsh village are not happy with this and there is some protest against the monks. When a respected member of the community is murdered and the clues around the body don't add up, Brother Cadfael steps in to find the truth.
*** Why I Listened To It ***
It caught my attention while I was at the library so I figured I'd give it a shot. Plus I saw that there is a tv series
based on these books which is also available at my library.*** My Thoughts ***
This book was just okay to me. I'm not generally a mystery fan so I'm sure that has a lot to do with it. It wasn't overly predictable and the characters were pretty interesting, but I just couldn't get into it enough to really enjoy it. It was easy to continue listening and at no point did I want to give up on it (I even laughed out loud a few times) but I don't see myself continuing on with this series.
*** Your Thoughts ***
Have you read any of the Brother Cadfael books or watched the tv show? What do you think of them?
* I include this info because that is the year I was born and of course I was happily surprised to find myself reading a book from that year.
12 comments:
I've never read any of the Cadfael books but I remember really enjoying the TV show...I think it was on Masterpiece Theater ten years ago, something like that.
I do like mysteries, so I might enjoy this more than you did, but I'm not sure I want to get started on a lengthy series.
Ruth - I might check out one show and see what I think ...
bermudaonion - Actually, each book stands on it's own so I think you'd be just fine giving this one a try!
After reading the first in the series, like you, I just thought it was "okay" and probably would have quit the series at that point. But the author Elizabeth Chadwick mentioned on an online forum that book two was her favorite, so I picked it up, read it, enjoyed it, and now I'm ready for book 9. I think the series "grows on you" and I do recommend reading them in order.
I've heard of the television series, but I've never had an urge to watch as I'm not much of a mystery fan either.
Heather --
Do you know your email got hacked? I just got an email from "you" about being mugged.
Just going down your blog now:-)
I read all these novels aloud with my hubby years ago. They are excellent for discussing with a freind as you go along, debating the clues and the suspects. It is one of those series that just draws you in. The main characters develop and grow relationships and you get to know Brother Cadfael as a wonderful real person and the historical research is excellent, the background political stuff come more into some stories and was very interesting, not a period I knew anything about. They are a bit like CSI for the 12th century. She does have a slight tendency to learn a few new words and over use them (the word 'rime' meaning frost comes to mind, after all this time), but they are nice in that she is not repetitive, not repeating old information all the time but just allows the reader to catch up with the ongoing storyline slowly by disclosure (Harry Potter is very bad for that, telling you stuff over and over in each book, not wanting to assume the reader has read the others, and it is dull for people who have). Anyway, I would definitely say try some more.
thanks for sharing
martine
Linda - Good to know! Maybe I'll pick up the next one from the library at some point.
Trisha - Yeah, me too - as you already know. :)
Jennifer - I'm so sorry for that! I've been dealing with it all day. :( In addition the emails, the hacker also wiped out my inbox and contact list. What a disaster!
martine -Hmm, maybe I'll have to give the series another shot ...
This series has been on my radar before but I haven't read one yet. Maybe when I'm done with my current Agatha Christie self challenge (which is taking longer than I thought it would) I'll move on and give one a try. Thanks for the honest review. I just wish you liked mysteries more.
Ryan - Yeah, so do I. I do love Sherlock Holmes though, so that's saying something. :)
I absolutely love this series. There are several readers for the series. If you had the woman reader, you might want to find book two read by the man reader (obviously I dodn't remember their names).
But I admit that one reason I love the books is because I'm attracted to all things medieval.
Beth - I'm actually sorry that I didn't enjoy it more - I generally do like this time period a great deal. Oh, and I did have the male narrator, but it's nice to know there are other narrators as well.
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