Book review: A Morbid Taste of Bones by Ellis Peters

A Morbid Taste for Bones (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael, #1)A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have a dim memory of reading this book many years ago and not liking it (I’m not quite sure why). I picked this up (again?) a couple of weeks ago and found myself enjoying it very much.
Brother Cadfael is a Welsh Benedictine monk who is asked to accompany a group of monks to Wales to retrieve a Welsh saint’s bones for their monastery. Naturally, a murder results. And Brother Cadfael–who has a rather unusual background for a monk–sets out to find the murderer. He does so successfully and contrives to further a romance as well.
The book is well-written and the secondary characters are well developed. The plot is tight and convincing as well. The pacing is leisurely (which may be why I wasn’t as enamored all those years ago), but that allows for the atmosphere and period flavor to come through better.
I look forward to reading the second book in the series!

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