A Morbid Taste for Bones
1977 • 200 pages

Ratings39

Average rating3.7

15

In February of 1141, men march home from war to Shrewsbury, but the captured sheriff Gilbert Prestcote is not among them. Elis, a young Welsh prisoner, is delivered to the Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul to begin a tale that will test Brother Cadfael’s sense of justice—and his heart.

By good fortune, it seems, the prisoner can be exchanged as Sheriff Prestcote’s ransom. What no one expects is that good-natured Elis will be struck down by cupid’s arrow. The sheriff’s own daughter holds him in thrall, and she, too, is blind with passion. But regaining her father means losing her lover. The sheriff, ailing and frail, is brought to the abbey’s infirmary—where he is murdered. Suspicion falls on the prisoner, who has only his Welsh honor to gain Brother Cadfael’s help. And Cadfael gives it, not knowing the truth will be a trial for his own soul.


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Series

Featured Series

20 primary books24 released books

#1 in Chronicles of Brother Cadfael

Chronicles of Brother Cadfael is a 24-book series with 20 primary works first released in 1920 with contributions by Ellis Peters.

#0.1
Una luce sulla strada per Woodstock
#0.2
The Price of Light
#0.5
A Rare Benedictine
#1
A Morbid Taste for Bones
#2
One corpse too many
#3
Monk's Hood
#4
St. Peter's Fair
#5
Due delitti per un monaco
#6
The Virgin in the Ice
#7
The Sanctuary Sparrow
#8
The Devil's Novice

Reviews

Popular Reviews

Reviews with the most likes.

This mystery was the perfect mix between history, religion, murder, and humor. Anyone who enjoys historical fiction or Agatha Christie-like mysteries will love this!

July 14, 2010

A Morbid Taste for Bones is a book that grew on me the more that I read. This book has Church politicking, a whodunnit, and a morbid trip to claim a saint's bones. By the end, I was cheering on Cadfael and the Welsh villagers for handling the situation in very unique ways.

Originally posted at rebeccasreadingcorner.blog.

August 6, 2020

Saint sanctioned mischief
fighting crime and mending hearts
the Welsh super-monk.

November 15, 2015

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