TWENTY GOOD READS FOR LOVERS OF HISTORICAL MYSTERIES

The “Cadfael Chronicles,” twenty historical mysteries sent during the English Civil War of the 1100s, by Ellis Peters (various publishers and editions available). They were written between 1977 and 1994, in the following order:

                              

 A Morbid Taste for Bones
One Corpse Too Many
Monk's Hood
St. Peter's Fair
The Leper of Saint Giles
The Virgin in the Ice
The Sanctuary Sparrow
The Devil's Novice
Dead Man's Ransom

The Pilgrim of Hate
An Excellent Mystery
The Raven in the Foregate
The Rose Rent
The Hermit of Eyton Forest
The Confession of Brother Haluin
The Heretic's Apprentice

The Potter's Field
The Summer of the Danes
The Holy Thief
Brother Cadfael's Penance

Dialogue between Wilda Morris and Thomas Kessler

WM: I read all twenty of the Brother Cadfael mysteries by Ellis Peters (a pseudonym of British author, Edith Pargeter). Did you also read all of them? If so, what did you especially like about them?

TK: It was quite a while ago, but I believe I read all that were available at the time. I enjoyed them very much for several reasons—I enjoy mystery novels, I enjoy novels set in the Middle Ages, and I enjoy novels that serve to open a window into life in monasteries. I also appreciated Cadfael's perspective on life and events. 

WM: The series was recommended to me during the month we spent on the border between Wales and England. The main setting is the Benedictine Monastery of St. Peter and St. Paul at Shrewsbury. I found one of the books in a store and bought it. I think it was The Hermit of Eyton Forest. It was a mistake not to begin with A Morbid Taste for Bones, the first book in the series. If you don’t start with the first book, you know something that gives away too much in an earlier volume. Thirteen of the books were made into television shows (with Derek Jacobi playing Brother Cadfael). I never understood why our public television station played the third episode first. One of the suspicious characters in the second novel becomes a regular, much-respected character in the later books. If you already know he is a “good guy,” he won’t look like a villain in One Corpse Too Many. That reduces the suspense. I highly recommend starting with the first volume of the series and working your way through in order! Do you have a favorite?

TK: I don't remember enough details to specify a favorite in terms of the story, but the one that I am reminded about most often is Monk's Hood because it involved a poisoning using a toxic plant called Monkshood - which has a beautiful hood-shaped purple bloom. After reading the book I planted some Monkshood in our yard (just to look at - not to use as poison), and think of the novel every time I see the plant.

WK: Maybe you could give me a cutting of Monkshood for my garden! Your mention of that reminds me that Cadfael was an expert in herbs and other plants. As a monk, Cadfael was in charge of the monastery herb garden, which was grown primarily for medicinal purposes. Cadfael was called on when a monk was ill, as well as when a body was found in the area around Shrewsbury. Cadfael had been a soldier in the Crusades and had brought back herbs that were new to English gardens.

TK: I’d be glad to provide you a cutting!  It spreads slowly without being invasive and seems to be quite hardy and I’ve begun to plant cuttings in various places in our yard.  Two interesting features of the books for me was that Cadfael was an herbalist and that being a monk was a “second career” after having led a more worldly life, including service in the Crusades.  That juxtaposition of two radically different life-styles and worldviews is what I was referring to when I said I appreciated his perspective on life and events.

WM: At one point, after the fourth or fifth of the series, I thought the books were getting a bit redundant. I put the series aside for a couple of months, and then went back to it. After that, I never found them redundant or boring. Now I wonder if it was after that that some of the plots drew on Cadfael’s life as a Crusader (and his time as a sailor), before he settled down and became a monk. This back-story gave the author interesting material on which to draw.

TK: Interesting. This conversation is making me want to go back and read the Cadfael series again.  I think that I’d appreciate and enjoy them even more than I did the first time. Do you have copies of most of the books? It just occurred to me that while I spend a fair amount of time in used bookstores and at used book sales, I seldom see Cadfael novels. I can only remember running across one in the past several years. Have you had the same experience?

WM: I have seen some of these books at The Frugal Muse in Darien, Illinois, where I sometimes buy used books.  To change the subject a bit, it seems to me that these books could be used as a resource on which to base a series of discussions of theological issues. Off hand, I can think of several: the use of relics; a Christian view of sexuality; whether it is ever appropriate to lie, etc. What do you think of this idea? Are there other issues you would add to the list?

TK: I think using the Cadfael novels as the basis of theological discussions is a great idea—and perhaps a way to engage some folks who might not think they'd enjoy such discussions. I'd have to re-read some of the novels to comment much more, but certainly issues of faith and authority - as well as historical discussions of 12th Century England.
 

WM: Yes, I should have thought of religious authority as a discussion topic; Cadfael had some interesting conflicts with other members of the monastery community, especially Prior Robert and the prior’s clerk! TK: The issue of religious authority is quite interesting.  Cadfael’s position as herbalist is certainly not a “power position” within the monastery or Catholic hierarchy.  But to my mind his wide previous experience before joining the order provided him more authority in terms of understanding of human nature and society.  I always enjoyed seeing how he managed to maneuver in the hierarchical system. WM: Another interesting topic for discussion would be the relationship between the secular world and the sacred, a theme which occurs regularly in this series. Grace, ethics, and the role of prayer are other potential discussion topics which could be based on reading one or more of the Cadfael series. I learned some things about the history of Great Britain while reading these books. The fact that the stories take place in historical sequence is helpful from that perspective. I don’t recall ever having heard of the struggle between Matilda (also called Maud) and Stephen for the throne of England until I read these books. Did you find the books an enjoyable way of picking up a little historical knowledge?

TK: They were very enjoyable! If you liked the Cadfael novels you might also enjoy books by Sharon Kay Penman. She has at least three mysteries out (example: The Queen's Man) - and if you enjoy "bigger" reads, her novel When Christ and His Saint's Slept is a much longer read about Matilda/Maud's struggle with her cousin Stephen for the throne. For some reason I find this particular period of English history fascinating—although I certainly wouldn't have wanted to live in England at that time. Another novel set in that same period that I enjoyed very much is The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. That period of English history provides the grist for discussion on many, many topics and aspects of “the human condition”—much as the U.S. Civil War does.

WM: I really enjoyed The Pillars of the Earth also. You aren’t the first person to recommend Sharon Penman’s books to me. I guess it is time for me to start reading them. And one of these days, I’m going to reread all twenty of the Cadfael novels. Edith Pargeter died in 1995, so there will not be any more books in the series.