{"id":6106,"date":"2016-10-10T18:50:17","date_gmt":"2016-10-10T22:50:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=6106"},"modified":"2025-07-02T16:20:58","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T20:20:58","slug":"a-morbid-taste-for-bones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/6106","title":{"rendered":"A Morbid Taste for Bones"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Morbid Taste for Bones<\/a><\/em> (1977) Ellis Peters<\/a><\/p>\n

\"a-morbid-taste-for-bones\"<\/a>Set in England and Wales in ~1137.<\/p>\n

I picked this up on sale–and by accident. I’d confused Ellis Peters with Peter Tremayne (whose real name was Peter Berresford Ellis, so it’s not that ridiculous of a mistake) and so picked up a bunch of these books when they went on sale.<\/p>\n

It was a very good mistake to have made. <\/p>\n

Brother Cadfael is a Welsh Benedictine monk and herbalist living in Shrewsbury, on the Welsh border. He came late to his calling, having spent his early years as a Crusader, and enjoys his life or order and peace, but because of his colorful past, knows much more of the world than most of his brothers.<\/p>\n

Which is one of the things I particularly liked about Brother Cadfael–he knew about the world, and was patient with those living in it. He seems like he would have been a marvelous person to know, even if he wasn’t willing to talk about his past as a crusader.<\/p>\n

One thing to note–this book was written in 1977, so there are anachronisms, but they didn’t especially bother me, because they weren’t glaring errors, and it wasn’t as easy in the 70s to check the etymology of a word as it is now. And they really are only minor things.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, there was very much to love.<\/p>\n

The abbey, like to many of the time, was searching for the bones of saints to bring to the Shrewsbury Abbey of St Peter and St Paul.<\/p>\n

He had been scouring the borderlands for a spare saint now for a year or more, looking hopefully towards Wales, where it was well known that holy men and women had been common as mushrooms in autumn in the past, and as little regarded.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

When a possible candidate is discovered, Brother Cadfael wrangles himself along as a translator (and also brings along his assistant, about whose calling he has doubts).<\/p>\n

Not that he’s able to keep those in his company from making mistakes.<\/p>\n

\u201cMoney!\u201d said Rhisiart in the most extraordinary of tones, at once curious, derisory and revolted. He knew about money, of course, and even understood its use, but as an aberration in human relations.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But what I like best is Brother Cadfael himself. Despite his past (or perhaps because of it) he has a true calling, but doesn’t take himself (or most around him) seriously.<\/p>\n

Meet every man as you find him, for we\u2019re all made the same under habit or robe or rags.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(L)eave agonising too much over your sins, black as they are, there isn\u2019t a confessor in the land who hasn\u2019t heard worse and never turned a hair. It\u2019s a kind of arrogance to be so certain you\u2019re past redemption.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“It\u2019s a kind of arrogance to be so certain you\u2019re past redemption.” That is a very interesting statement–one I hadn’t heard before.<\/p>\n

As you can probably guess from that, Brother Cadfael is a great proponent of redemption, and it’s one of my favorite themes, so along with a fascinating and well-done mystery, this was a very enjoyable story.
\nRating: 8.5\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

Published by MysteriousPress<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Morbid Taste for Bones (1977) Ellis Peters Set in England and Wales in ~1137. I picked this up on sale–and by accident. I’d confused Ellis Peters with Peter Tremayne (whose real name was Peter Berresford Ellis, so it’s not that ridiculous of a mistake) and so picked up a bunch of these books when […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[191,30,190,292,33,8,26],"tags":[120,119,549,877,878],"class_list":["post-6106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-5-10","category-british","category-cozy","category-ebook","category-historical","category-mystery","category-romance","tag-brother-cadfael","tag-ellis-peters","tag-high-middle-ages","tag-medieval","tag-the-anarchy"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-1Au","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":23583,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/23583","url_meta":{"origin":6106,"position":0},"title":"A Morbid Taste for Bones","author":"Michelle","date":"May 13, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"A Morbid Taste for Bones (1977) Ellis Peters (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael) Set in England in 1137. The herbarium in particular was his kingdom, for he had built it up gradually through the fifteen years of labour, and added to it many exotic plants of his own careful raising, collected\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"A Morbid Taste for Bones","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/A-Morbid-Taste-for-Bones.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10939,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/10939","url_meta":{"origin":6106,"position":1},"title":"A Morbid Taste for Bones","author":"Michelle","date":"July 10, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"A Morbid Taste for Bones (1977) Ellis Peters Cadfael is a brother at Shrewsbury abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. Unlike most of his brethren he came to his calling late, having spent his younger years as a Crusader--and perhaps also an adventurer. Nothing troubled his peace but the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/A-Morbid-Taste-for-Bones.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11123,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/11123","url_meta":{"origin":6106,"position":2},"title":"Dead Man’s Ransom","author":"Michelle","date":"September 27, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Dead Man's Ransom (1984) Ellis Peters Set in England in 1141. The war between Stephen and Maud still flares across the countryside, and in one of the battles Gilbert Prestcote, the sheriff of Shrewsbury, is wounded and taken prisoner by the Welsh. Meanwhile, a band of Welsh raiders have been\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Dead-Mans-Ransom.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24200,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/24200","url_meta":{"origin":6106,"position":3},"title":"The Summer of the Danes","author":"Michelle","date":"January 31, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The Summer of the Danes (1991) Ellis Peters (The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael #18) Set in Wales in 1144 It is a blessed thing, on the whole, to live in slightly dull times, especially after disorder, siege and bitter contention. Have you ever seen the sea?\u201d \u201cNo. How could I?\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Summer of the Danes","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/The-Summer-of-the-Danes.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6170,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/6170","url_meta":{"origin":6106,"position":4},"title":"The Summer of the Danes","author":"Michelle","date":"November 8, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Summer of the Danes (1991) Ellis Peters Set in Wales in 1144. This story is quite different from others in this series. Like the first, it is set in Wales, but instead of a peaceful search for a saint, there is a possibility of a fight between brothers and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"the-summer-of-the-danes","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/The-Summer-of-the-Danes.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11915,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/11915","url_meta":{"origin":6106,"position":5},"title":"The Summer of the Danes","author":"Michelle","date":"May 29, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The Summer of the Danes (1991) Ellis Peters Set in England in 1144. Cadfael and Brother Mark travel to Wales, to meet with (and support) two new bishops. But they end up caught up in an unexpected fight: Prince Owain Gwynedd and his brother Cadwaladr. \u201cBrothers have been the ruin\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"the-summer-of-the-danes","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/The-Summer-of-the-Danes.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6106"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6106\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}