A Morbid Taste for Bones

by Ellis Peters
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This is the first in a series of books about Brother Cadfael, an unusual monk who solves mysteries in the twelfth century. Cadfael is Welsh, but he lives in an abbey in Shrewsbury, England. That’s not why he is unusual, though. Cadfael wasn’t born a monk. When he was younger, he took part in the First Crusade. He has seen a lot more of the world than most monks (or most other people in the twelfth century), he knows a lot of unusual things, and he has a knack for noticing little details. He also tends to ignore any rules that get in the way, and he has a very different take on religion and morality than most of his fellow monks.

In A Morbid Taste for Bones, a monk named Columbanus collapses and appears unable to recover his senses. Another monk, Brother Jerome, has a vision: Saint Winifred will cure Brother Columbanus if they take him to where Winifred was killed. This is awfully convenient, since the abbot has been thinking about getting a saint for the abbey. When Saint Winifred actually cures Columbanus, the abbot takes it as a sign from God that Saint Winifred’s remains should be moved from her grave in Wales to the abbey.

A group of monks, including Jerome, Columbanus, and our hero Cadfael, make their way to Wales to pick up Saint Winifred’s remains. This idea isn’t too popular with the local people, who are rather fond of their saint. There is a fierce debate, and before everyone can come to a conclusion, a very important person is murdered. This is about 900 years too early for forensic science, but Cadfael has a few tricks up his sleeve.

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Where to Find It

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