{"id":6109,"date":"2016-10-10T19:11:44","date_gmt":"2016-10-10T23:11:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=6109"},"modified":"2025-07-02T16:20:57","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T20:20:57","slug":"one-corpse-too-many","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/6109","title":{"rendered":"One Corpse Too Many"},"content":{"rendered":"

One Corpse Too Many<\/a><\/em> (1979) Ellis Peters<\/a><\/p>\n

\"one-corpse-too-many\"<\/a>Set in England in 1138.<\/p>\n

I enjoyed the second book as much as–if not more than–the first.<\/p>\n

Civil War is come to Shrewsbury as Maud and Stephen battle for the throne of England. (I actually had to go back and peruse She-Wolves<\/a><\/em>, to see is Maud was mentioned there.) <\/p>\n

When Maud’s supporters are put to death after Stephen wins the battle, Cadfael and the brothers at the Abbey help prepare the dead, and bury any who are not claimed by their families. It is as they are finishing these preparations that Brother Cadfael realized that there are more bodies laid out than were executed, and thus begins the mystery.<\/p>\n

One of the things I liked was both the horror of the execution of so many many and the commonplace of the preparation of the dead.<\/p>\n

In the house of Father Elias, priest of St. Alkmund\u2019s church, (the man) was reverently stripped, washed, composed and shrouded, all by his sister\u2019s hands, the good father assisting. Hugh Beringar stood by to fetch and carry for them, but did not enter the room where they worked. She wanted no one else, she was quite sufficient to the task laid on her.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s a very subtle reminder of how much things have changed–of how death and dying have become a stranger to our lives.<\/p>\n

I again enjoyed Brother Cadfael’s wit and way of looking at the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can hardly question your judgment of men,\u201d said Cadfael drily, \u201csince you\u2019ve confided in me. If I doubted, I\u2019d hardly be likely to own it.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Again, there were a couple anachronisms–“the plague” wasn’t in use until the 14th century (which I knew because of another historical mystery series I recently read) but as the book was written in the late 70s, I can hardly fault the author for being off by 200 or so years in a work of fiction.<\/p>\n

I enjoyed this story very much, and Brother Cadfael’s look on life.
\nRating: 8.5\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

One Corpse Too Many (1979) Ellis Peters Set in England in 1138. I enjoyed the second book as much as–if not more than–the first. Civil War is come to Shrewsbury as Maud and Stephen battle for the throne of England. (I actually had to go back and peruse She-Wolves, to see is Maud was mentioned […]<\/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-6109","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-1Ax","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10955,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/10955","url_meta":{"origin":6109,"position":0},"title":"One Corpse Too Many","author":"Michelle","date":"July 18, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"One Corpse Too Many (1979) Ellis Peters Set in England in 1138. There is war between King Stephen and the Empress Maud, over who is the rightful ruler of England, and Stephen has come to Shrewsbury to flush out some of Maud's strongest supporters. After the battle, and the hanging\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":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/One-Corpse-Too-Many.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":23666,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/23666","url_meta":{"origin":6109,"position":1},"title":"One Corpse Too Many","author":"Michelle","date":"June 1, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"One Corpse Too Many (1979) Ellis Peters (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael #2) Set in England in 1138. This is set with the civil war between King Stephen and Empress Maud in the forefront of the story. In this early summer of 1138 the fratricidal strife, hitherto somewhat desultory, was already\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"One Corpse Too Many","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/One-Corpse-Too-Many.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11145,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/11145","url_meta":{"origin":6109,"position":2},"title":"An Excellent Mystery","author":"Michelle","date":"October 4, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"An Excellent Mystery (1985) Ellis Peters Set in England in 1141 The war between Stephen and Maud continues, leading to the burning of much of Winchester. This causes two monks to appear at the abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, seeking refuge and shelter at their brother abbey. But\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/An-Excellent-Mystery-e1511012747949.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24320,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/24320","url_meta":{"origin":6109,"position":3},"title":"Brother Cadfael’s Penance","author":"Michelle","date":"March 14, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Brother Cadfael's Penance (1994) Ellis Peters (Chronicles of Brother Cadfael #20) Set in England in 1145. This is the third time I have read this series through, but the first time I read Brother Cadfael's Penance, the final book in the series (there is an anthology of short stories I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Brother Cadfael's Penance","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Brother-Cadfaels-Penance.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Brother-Cadfaels-Penance.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Brother-Cadfaels-Penance.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11613,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/11613","url_meta":{"origin":6109,"position":4},"title":"The Confession of Brother Haluin","author":"Michelle","date":"January 27, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The Confession of Brother Haluin (1988) Ellis Peters Set in England in 1143 Stephen and Maud are still battling over the English throne. It seemed that as often as either of them got within touch of the crown, fortune took fright at the prospect of being in the service of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/The-Confession-of-Brother-Haluin.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6146,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/6146","url_meta":{"origin":6109,"position":5},"title":"An Excellent Mystery","author":"Michelle","date":"October 28, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"An Excellent Mystery (1985) Ellis Peters Set in England in 1141. The town of Winchester has been destroyed in the war between Maud and Stephen, and the people--as well as the Benedictine brothers and nuns--have scattered across the country to wherever they can find refuge. Two monks arrive at the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"an-excellent-mystery","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/An-Excellent-Mystery.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6109","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=6109"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6109\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}