Ellis Peters

[Margaret]

Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael novels are beloved for good reason. Brother Cadfael is a monk with a past. On retiring to a monastery, he took up the post of infirmarian. With his vast knowledge of herbcraft, he tends not only to the monks' ills, but to those of the townfolk. His worldly past and his hard-won wisdom about people and their motivations often puts him at odds with his brethren who believe monks should be more rigid in their adherence to the monastic rule. It also makes him particularly able to sort out the tangle of lies and conflicts surrounding a case of murder.

Who else has read these mysteries, and which is your favorite?

[Rowan]

I've read about half of them I think. Will have to go back and start over probably. You forgot to mention that his 'past' involves being a soldier.

[Melisende]

I love them all!

Also didn't mind Sean Pertwee as Sir Derek's (aka Bro. Cadfael) sidekick. Nice bit of eye-candy there (okay it was awhile ago!).

[TerriPray]

Oh, I used to own them all (or all of them that were out at the time) when I still lived in the UK. Loved that series.

I'm going to have to re-collect them again as I started reading those when I was about 12 or 13, so it won't be long before my daughter will be old enough for them.

[Carla]

I've read about half of them, and like them very much, chiefly because Cadfael is such an attractive character. I think my favourite of the ones I've read is One Corpse Too Many (partly because of Hugh Berenger).

[EC2]

I've read about half of them, and like them very much, chiefly because Cadfael is such an attractive character. I think my favourite of the ones I've read is One Corpse Too Many (partly because of Hugh Berenger).

I've got them all and read them all. Carla (owe you an e-mail but will be next week at least!) One Corpse Too Many is my favourite too - due to Hugh Berenger. I confess to reading the mysteries not for Cadfael and the whodunnit, but for my Hugh fix. . I also very much enjoyed The Virgin in the Ice and St Peter's Fair. The earlier ones IMO are better than the later ones.
I like Sean Pertwee but he was not ideally cast as Hugh Berenger in the TV series. He's nothing like the personality in the book and that was disappointing for me. Then again Derek Jacobi ain't nothing like the Cadfael in the book!

[Margaret]

I think Edith Pargeter (Ellis Peters was a pen name) once lamented that she didn't do villains well. She had a lot of sympathy for all her characters, so had a hard time creating characters who were just plain mean. I wonder if this might not actually be one of the reasons why so many readers loved her Brother Cadfael mysteries. In the thread about villains, I was talking about how I don't usually care for novels with villains who are evil through-and-through, because I just don't find them interesting or particularly credible.

[Kasthu]

It's been a while since I last read an Ellis Peters, but I remember her books being quite good. In fact, I think one of them was in a list of the best mysteries of the 20th century or something. I'd have to dig them out and re-read them.

[Misfit]

I've never read any books under the Peters name but I loved The Heaven Tree trilogy under Edith Pargeter. Not the fastest paced book, but the writing is gorgeous. Funny there's this book about a master stone mason building a great cathedral written twenty some years before..... well you know what book.

[Ash]

I actually discovered Caedfael first on the PBS series, and yes, Berenger was a favorite. Loved Derek Jacobi in the lead. Ended up reading all of them (with Jacobi's voice in my head); I can't think of one that is outstanding as a favorite; perhaps the one with the woman who kills herself after a priest blasts her for daring to confess her pregnancy to him? They were all good btw.

I remember several years ago visiting a replica of Caedfaels monastery and gardens; it should be in Shrewsbury, but now I am not remembering and can't find it. Any clues?