Another enjoyable mystery that isn't too mysterious early on, but still a great diversion. These stories never fail to please. Unfortunately, I am starting to run low on unread Brother Cadfael books. ( )

When you can see some of what is coming at you for pages in a mystery, then it is not doing what it should be doing. This is the problem I found with The Confession of Brother Haluin. Previously when Peters has sent Hugh Beringar to court then we have court intrigue find its way to Shrewbury.

This time, we do not. We find very little in the way of additional detail about Saint Peter and St. Paul's though we do hear about the brothers who work in the scriptorium as that is where Haluin has found his skills to be valued.

As we delve into the story, we see so much earlier than Cadfael what is taking place, that it leaves me wondering why the story was even written. Then the body. All good mysteries are murder mysteries and so there must be a body.

But we don't get to the body for such a long time, and by then we know the heart of the mystery so the motive for there being a body is too evident.

The reason to read the story is to pass time and keep up with the rest of the series. ( )

Brother Haluin makes a deathbed confession but doesn't die. He wants to make some reparation, but sets off an unexpected series of events.

One of her best, not so much because of the mystery, the answer to which was pretty obvious, but because of the atmosphere and the characters, especially the formidable dowager, Adelais. ( )

The mystery of this Brother Cadfael book was obvious and the lengths gone to “solve” it a bit tedious, but otherwise this book was a good character study and another nice time capsule of medieval England. ( )

I enjoy all the Cadfael mysteries, so I would recommend any of them. ( )