At last I've started the Brother Cadfael mysteries, after several friends recommended the books for quite some time. I enjoyed this story and I'll certainly be looking for the rest of the series.

Brother Cadfael is an old Welsh adventurer, who has joined the Benedictine order as a retirement rather than for religious reasons. He is quite worldy-wise and astute about the motivations of others, and he observes his spiritual brothers with interest. I found him a little too cynically modern in his thinking, a little too easy to relate to — but I suppose it would be difficult for modern readers to really identify with a zealously strict monk.

In this first story, Brother Cadfael joins a party from his monastery that is going in search of a saint's relics to boost its monastery's importance among the religious orders. Everyone around this time was relic-crazy, with bones and body parts of saints performing great miracles (or so everyone said) for the faithful. Prior Robert, who is leading their group, has set his sights on Saint Winifred, a centuries-old saint of a small village in Wales. The people of the village don't want the monks to take her away, and one man in particular, Rhisiart, leads the movement against the monks' mission. When he is found murdered with an arrow through his chest, the resistance collapses. Prior Robert claims that it's saintly vengeance for Rhisiart's opposition to the monks. But Brother Cadfael knows better — who really killed Rhisiart?

Brother Cadfael begins his own investigations, aided by the dead man's daughter Sioned. The story has a good dash of humor, especially with the earthy, young Brother John, and there is also a bit of the supernatural. Of course a lot of it is just the ready ambition and competition of the monks, but not everything is so neatly explained. I like that... so much in religious experience is overblown and unreal, but not all of it. And there are some good insights about religion and psychology. My favorite line: "It's a kind of arrogance to be so certain you're past redemption."

Peters gives plenty of hints about Brother Cadfael's varied past, and it will be interesting to see how these things pop up in later stories. Though the mystery is nothing earth-shattering, it's fairly well-written, and the characters are interesting. Enjoyable and light. ( )

In 1137 a delegation of monks from Shrewsbury Abbey in England, journey to Gwytherin Wales to collect the sacred remains of Saint Winifred. The wise and slightly irreverent native Welshman, Brother Cadfael, is included on the holy expedition as the interpreter. Their reception by the residents of Gwytherin is not entirely welcome as the villagers are reluctant to give up their Saint. When one of the leading opponents ends up with an arrow to the heart, some villagers believe that it is the Saint herself making her wishes known. But wise and worldly Brother Cadfael recognizes a murder victim when he sees one, and is quietly determined to solve the mystery.

This short novel is certainly not great literature but it is an enjoyable read. It's a truly delightful mystery with an ending that is both fitting and humorous. I'm looking forward to reading other books in the series. ( )

An enjoyable series. Love the setting, the main character, etc. Only complaint is that a certain predictability arises as the series develops. ( )

....and all the Ellis Peters Cadfael series. Excellent. ( )

In the first part the characters are described; at p. 114 the adding of characters is stopped and a murder is analyzed in the nexth pages by experimenting. Things work not out so well, such is life. At the end the quality of the plot is diminishing; more humour is introduced and a happy ending concludes a nice story, which puts you back in time. ( )