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A Morbid Taste for Bones
A Morbid Taste for Bones
A Morbid Taste for Bones
Audiobook8 hours

A Morbid Taste for Bones

Written by Ellis Peters

Narrated by Patrick Tull

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

()

About this audiobook

On an expedition to acquire a saint’s remains, Brother Cadfael instead finds intrigue and murder

It is 1137, and the ambitious head of the Shrewsbury Abbey wishes to acquire the remains of Saint Winifred for the glory of his Benedictine order. Brother Cadfael is part of the expedition sent to the saint’s final resting place in Wales, where he finds the villagers divided over the Benedictines’ quest.

When the leading opponent to moving the grave is shot dead with a mysterious arrow, some believe Winifred herself delivered the blow. Brother Cadfael knows that an earthly hand did the killing. But he doesn’t know that his plan to root out a murderer may dig up a case of love and justice, where the
waves of sin may be scandal—or his own ruin.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateDec 11, 2009
ISBN9781440788741
Author

Ellis Peters

Ellis Peters (the pen name of Edith Pargeter, 1913–1995) is a writer beloved of millions of readers worldwide and has been widely adapted for radio and television, including her Brother Cadfael crime novels, which were made into a series starring Derek Jacobi. She has been the recipient of the Cartier Diamond Dagger, Edgar Award for Best Novel, Agatha Award for Best Novel, and was awarded an OBE for her services to literature in 1994.

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Reviews for A Morbid Taste for Bones

Rating: 4.2388059701492535 out of 5 stars
4/5

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    In 1137 a delegation of monks from Shrewsbury Abbey in England, journey to Gwytherin Wales to collect the sacred remains of Saint Winifred. The wise and slightly irreverent native Welshman, Brother Cadfael, is included on the holy expedition as the interpreter. Their reception by the residents of Gwytherin is not entirely welcome as the villagers are reluctant to give up their Saint. When one of the leading opponents ends up with an arrow to the heart, some villagers believe that it is the Saint herself making her wishes known. But wise and worldly Brother Cadfael recognizes a murder victim when he sees one, and is quietly determined to solve the mystery.This short novel is certainly not great literature but it is an enjoyable read. It's a truly delightful mystery with an ending that is both fitting and humorous. I'm looking forward to reading other books in the series.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Enjoyed the TV series with Darek Jacoby (I have yet to NOT like anything he's in), but had never read the books. When this came up on an ebook special, I took a chance. It's been a while since I watched the shows, so didn't remember precisely how this mystery would pan out. I found the characters charming, the history and setting interesting, and the mystery mild. A fun short read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A Morbid Taste for Bones is the first Brother Cadfael mystery. When a fellow monk by the name of Brother Columbanus falls ill, he’s taken in a pilgrimage to St Winifred’s Well in North Wales and returns cured. The cure is attributed to St Winifred. Prior Robert, Cadfael (needed to translate) and a small party travel to the village of Gwytherin in Wales to claim the saint’s relics; against the will of the local community. Tempers rise, and murder is the result. It’s up to Brother Cadfael and to Sioned, a local young woman, to find out what really happened. This book is a fun read--things move along quickly. 3.5 out of 5 stars.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Perhaps my lest favorite Cadfael, with a grimly sardonic tone quite unlike many of the later ones. It focusses on the attempt of Shrewsbury Abbey to appropriate the bones of Winifred, a Welsh virgin martyr saint, despite the opposition of the Welsh people around her traditional shrine (which I have visited).
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    An entertaining mystery with a good plot and characters. I would like it better if Cadfael was actually a faithful Catholic instead of a moral relativist.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Brother Cadfael gets opportunity to journey to his homeland, Wales. It is here that he encounters his first case. Cadfael is acting as a translator. He is attempting to help his prior to obtain the bones of St. Winifred but the villagers are not happy about this. To complicated matters, during negotiations a murder happens and it happens to be the main person that is against the removal of St. Winifred from the village. If you love historical mysteries, you will really enjoy this book. Ellis Peters hass an amazing way of making this monk, of so many centuries ago, come alive today.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    This copy has huge gaps in the recording, jumping from the middle of one sentence to the middle of another several “pages” ahead. (I was listening and reading along.) I had to abandon it here on Scribd and go buy another copy elsewhere: same version, same narrator, but without the gaps which make this instance unlistenable.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    In this First Chronicle of Brother Cadfael of the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul at Shrewsbury we journey with Brother Cadfael and a retinue from the abbey to Gwytherin, Wales to recover the bones of St. Winifred from her resting place in a small cemetery in Gwytherin and transport her to grace the grand altar at Shrewsbury. We witness the clash of two cultures as the patrician Norman, Prior Robert of Shrewsbury, who thinks in terms of heirarchies and Rhisiart, the landholder of Gwytherin who thinks in terms of blood ties battle over the right to St. Winifred's bones. Prior Robert, who comes with the blessing and authority of church and state and with an overbearing arrogance has little to say to a culture which looks upon itself as kinship members, with different places but not inferior one to the other. Brother Cadfael, a native of Wales, is in the thick of the arguments and resulting murders with his empathetic outlook and his knowledge of the language and culture. A surprise ending which will be alluded to and cause unease to Cadfael in succeeding books of this very engaging series of medieval mystery by a master storyteller.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Having seen a number of good recommendations for this novel, I looked forward to reading it, but alas I couldn't get into the story. I say this regretfully since I don't easily give up on books. It doesn't help that the narrative takes its time to get going, with this Brother talking to that Prior using a stilted, high language. Even the words themselves feel slow.Not necessarily a bad book, just not for me.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A clever and satisfying story with attractive characters and warm humor. So far the best of the series.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is the 1st Cadfael I've read (as well as the 1st in the series) and it was an enjoyable read. It was a nice easy who-dun-it and I plan to read all the rest of them as well. The PBS Cadfael specials first pointed me in this direction. Cadfael goes with a group of his brother monks to bring back the relics of Saint Winifred from a reluctant parish and during the course of things a murder occurs of the chief holdout. Problems abound and Cadfael tries to find a solution and to make everyone satisfied.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    One of my favorite books in one of my favorite series. Though, I can't help but feel like people talked a little too much in the middle ages!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I did like this one. Often the first book or two in a series are the weakest as the author, not to mention the characters, begin finding their way in their world, but Brother Cadfael seems to be well fleshed out from the beginning. The plot hangs together fairly well, and the driving motivations of all the main characters make for some interesting interactions between them. Finally - and this is always a favorite plot device of mine - there is just a hint that St. Winifred is taking a direct hand in the proceedings. Nothing so crass as melting away the bad guys like Indiana Jones, but, just as you would expect from a saint, a light touch having a significant effect; and the touch is so light it's not clear that it's really there. Nicely done, although if it happened in every book of the series it would get old fast.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The first book in the compelling Brother Cadfael series, this medieval murder mystery is sure to attract a wide variety of readers. Filled with monastic customs, medieval life, murder, and intrigue this mystery is a great introduction to the rest of the books in the series. Even though this one isn't my favorite (it takes place away from their monastery) it's still damn good and that speaks volumes about this series. Narrated brilliantly by Derek Jacobi who plays Brother Cadfael in the TV show, the audiobook is well worth a listen. I can't wait to work my way though this series!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    As a lover of British TV how did I miss not only this series but the great books? I loved this book. The main character Brother Cadfael is engaging and well developed. In this first book his monastery is trying to get the bones of a saint from a Welsh village when a town leader is murdered. Brother Cadfael steps in and assists the remaining family with trying to determine who did the horrible deed. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes historical fiction or mysteries, Enjoy!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Loved it! A medieval murder mystery with characters fleshed out and real to their times, and the setting just as you’d imagine Wales to be at that time.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Marvelous story. You have to read it to find out exactly what happens. A fun spoof on religion. The historical detail, the characters, and the humor are enchanting. By the end I loved Brother Cadfael and all the villagers of Gwytherin, Wales. An utterly charming tale and funny too! Completed Oct 6, 2010
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Good writing, good characters, decent mystery. Kinda slow, it could have ended at about 17 places in the last 2 chapters but it just kept going.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A wonderful beginning to a great series. The narrator does a skillful job.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A favorite, this gives a lot of explanation of Cadfael's faith and truth vs. religiosity.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Great twists and turns. And explanations of how people can create wonderful solutions
    Jealousy, sensitivity, creativity create this story
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    At last I've started the Brother Cadfael mysteries, after several friends recommended the books for quite some time. I enjoyed this story and I'll certainly be looking for the rest of the series. Brother Cadfael is an old Welsh adventurer, who has joined the Benedictine order as a retirement rather than for religious reasons. He is quite worldy-wise and astute about the motivations of others, and he observes his spiritual brothers with interest. I found him a little too cynically modern in his thinking, a little too easy to relate to — but I suppose it would be difficult for modern readers to really identify with a zealously strict monk. In this first story, Brother Cadfael joins a party from his monastery that is going in search of a saint's relics to boost its monastery's importance among the religious orders. Everyone around this time was relic-crazy, with bones and body parts of saints performing great miracles (or so everyone said) for the faithful. Prior Robert, who is leading their group, has set his sights on Saint Winifred, a centuries-old saint of a small village in Wales. The people of the village don't want the monks to take her away, and one man in particular, Rhisiart, leads the movement against the monk's mission. When he is found murdered with an arrow through his chest, the resistance collapses. Prior Robert claims that it's saintly vengeance for Rhisiart's opposition to the monks. But Brother Cadfael knows better — who really killed Rhisiart?Brother Cadfael begins his own investigations, aided by the dead man's daughter Sioned. The story has a good dash of humor, especially with the earthy, young Brother John, and there is also a bit of the supernatural. Of course a lot of it is just the ready ambition and competition of the monks, but not everything is so neatly explained. I like that... so much in religious experience is overblown and unreal, but not all of it. And there are some good insights about religion and psychology. My favorite line: "It's a kind of arrogance to be so certain you're past redemption."Peters gives plenty of hints about Brother Cadfael's varied past, and it will be interesting to see how these things pop up in later stories. Though the mystery is nothing earth-shattering, it's fairly well-written, and the characters are interesting. Enjoyable and light.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Brother Cadfael is settling in to a quiet life at the monastery, when he is called upon to travel to a remote village in Wales and act as translator for the prior, who wishes to bring back the bones of a saint; while there, one of the village leaders and their staunchest opponent is murdered, and Brother Cadfael must solve the crime with the help of the murdered man's daughter.I enjoyed this first in a murder series, both for its historical detail and its characters. Peters tells a detective story that seems appropriately rooted in the distant past but doesn't feel remote. She even gives us two remarkable female characters, who come across not only as complete people but who also take action to change the course of events. In a story about monks, it would have been all too easy to forget the women. Peters injects a fair amount of humor in her story, as well as a genuine affection for most of her characters. Perhaps the Welsh villagers are all a tad too saintly, but they are also charming, and so is this novel.Read for the HistoryCAT (2015).
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The first in the Brother Cadfael series.We're in 12th century England near the Welsh border at Shrewbury, the site of the Benedictine Abbey of Sts. Peter and Paul. Brother Cadfael at 57 has had his share of worldly adventures as part of the First Crusade fighting in the Holy land; he has also had his share of experiences with women, which he remembers with affection. For the past 15 years, he has been a contented member of the Benedictine community, his major responsibility being the abbey garden, especially the medicinal herbs.No organization is immune from politics and its ambitious practitioners, least of all the Catholic Church. The prior of Shrewsbury Abbey, Prior Robert, is a descendant of the Norman conquerors, and while he may have given up lordship over a secular domain, he definitely aspires to rise to the top within the Church. Thus he chafes under the galling lack of a saint's relics at the abbey, diminishing the abbey's (and therefore his) reputation. Prior Robert launches a campaign to transfer the bones of St. Winifred, a little-known virgin Welsh saint from their resting place in Wales to Sts. Peter and Paul.The Welsh community is NOT amused, and the opposition is led by a prominent Welsh landowner who is soon found murdered.The plot is excellent, given the era in which the story is set. Peters draws the characters--all of them, including the haughty Prior Robert--with great affection. She has a wonderful ability to put us right in the time and the location.The climax of the story is very well done and Brother Cadfael's solution to the resulting problem a stroke of genius; the humor and irony are exquisite.It may be a murder mystery, but Peters writes with great gentleness, humor, and fondness for the period. Brother Cadfael is one of the most endearing "detectives" of the genre.Highly recommended.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Six-word review: Clever medieval monk investigates Welshman's murder.Extended review:The first of the well-known Brother Cadfael mysteries by Edith Pargeter (writing as Ellis Peters) is also my first exposure to the series. I managed to miss all twenty of the novels, published beginning in 1977, and the four-season TV series broadcast in the nineties.Now, it seems, I'm in for a treat.Brother Cadfael is a Benedictine monk of the twelfth century, a Welshman living in an English abbey. After an adventuresome life as a soldier and sailor, he took the cowl in middle age. Hints of his colorful background enliven the quiet picture of a monastic herbalist and also account for his world-weary ability to see past men's poses to read the evil behind their acts.In this novel, the prior of Cadfael's abbey takes it as a personal mission to annex a long-dead Welsh saint and have her relics moved from her resting place to England where they can be properly venerated. The Welsh parish that has kept her chapel over the centuries objects. A violent death ensues, amidst thwarted love, a blooming romance, clan loyalties, and ecclesiastical ambition. Only Brother Cadfael can see the way to uncover the truth of the crime and accomplish justice for the afflicted parties.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Brother Cadfael, the sleuth in this book, is a monk in the Benedictine Order in the 12th Century during the struggle for the throne between King Stephen and Empress Maud and the history of the time is skillfully woven into the tales. I recommend not just this book but the entire series--they're favorites of mine. Good comfort reads for when you want to immerse yourself in another world with a characters you think of as friends, and there's usually an element of romance. I've seen Cadfael compared to Friar Lawrence in Romeo and Juliet in his attempts to aid lovers, only he's wiser, smarter and more successful. I think each novel could be read on its own, and isn't dependent on the earlier ones, but I think you do enjoy it more when you read it from the beginning, because there is also an underlying arc to the series, such as the friendship between Cadfael and the sheriff Hugh Beringar (Who first appears in One Corpse Too Many. I liked the ending in particular in this--justice done with a light touch. A good read and a strong opening for the series.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I quite enjoyed this. Much of the pleasure is in Cadfael's shrewd assessments of the people around him. I'm inclined to read through the series in order. I would really give this 3.5 stars, but being forced to round, I've chosen to round to 4.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Fifty-seven year old Welshman Brother Cadfael is a “squat, barrel-chested, bandy-legged” Benedictine monk in the 12th Century at the Abbey of Shrewsbury. He came to the monastery late in life after an action-packed youth that included a stint in the Crusades. The Abbey is a sort of retirement for him, and he works in the herbarium. There he is assisted by “the youngsters” Brother John and Brother Columbanus, only two years tonsured. The Abbey Administrator, Prior Robert, ambitious and vain, is seeking some saintly relics (at that time they were considered as good as penicillin for what ailed you) to add to the glory of himself as well as the Abbey. Thus, he looks toward Wales, “where it was well known that holy men and women had been common as mushrooms in autumn…”After a vision by Brother Columbanus, they settle on Winifred of Gwytherin in Wales, and the Abbot sends out a delegation to get her bones. Brother Cadfael goes along as an interpreter. In Gwytherin, the primary opponent of moving the saint, Rhisiart, is murdered, and Brother Cadfael helps solve the crime with the assistance of Sioned, the beautiful daughter of the murdered man.When Brother Cadfael isn’t solving mysteries, he’s playing matchmaker, helping various young people find love and happiness. This process is assisted by his sense of humor, a wry religious realism, and a generosity of spirit. In addition, he alludes to memories of happiness with women as a young man, so you get a strong image of Anna in "The King and I," looking out at the starry night and singing:"Hello young lovers, whoever you are, I hope your troubles are few. All my good wishes go with you tonight, I've been in love like you. Be brave, young lovers, and follow your star,Be brave and faithful and true, Cling very close to each other tonight.I've been in love like you. I know how it feels to have wings on your heels, And to fly down the street in a trance. You fly down a street on the chance that you meet, And you meet -- not really by chance. Don't cry young lovers, whatever you do, Don't cry because I'm alone; All of my memories are happy tonight, I've had a love of my own.I've had a love of my own, like yours- I've had a love of my own."Evaluation: This is a book one might call cozy-historical. It’s pleasant enough, although it’s a bit like drinking lite beer. The mystery is fairly obvious, and the characters aren’t fully fleshed out: what we learn about them is pretty much on a need-to-know basis. Still, you get some interesting insights into 12th Century England and Wales, especially into the religious life, and the story is not without its charms. It provides an enjoyable way to pass some time, although to be honest, the next book in the series is better. I would say this first book is one in which Peters sets out the premises of the series, lays some background, and tests her stride. You don't need to read it to keep going in the series, but you won't regret reading it, either.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    At least 10 years back I had seen a few episodes of the Brother Cadfael tv series. They were clever enough to pique my interest in the books now that I'm sampling many mystery authors. Evidenced from this one book initiating the series, Ellis Peters (Edith Pargeter) is an excellent author. Her many awards not withstanding, this is evidence enough for me that she's a very gifted author. A Morbid Taste for Bones introduces us quickly to our crafty protagonist. Only a few pages take place at the home Abbey before they're off to Wales on a mission to claim the relics of Saint Winifred. The author's dry wit successfully comes through Brother Cadfael, one of the most interesting "detectives" in mystery fiction.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Really wonderful reading. A masterful mystery to start the series.