oldshrewsburyian:

earlgraytay:

Also I just read a book called The Heretic’s Apprentice that is part of a series about a not-quite-monk named Brother Cadfael who solves murder mysteries in the Middle Ages

And while I think I need to reread to make sure I properly liked it… I think I wanna pick up more books in that series, if they were all as good as that one. 

I really like this series! (And I say this as a medieval historian, as well as an aficionado of mystery novels.) They can turn a bit formulaic in the personal relationships – young love usually triumphs – but the plots are thoughtful, and I think the characterization and atmosphere are good. And the way Ellis Peters handles historical attitudes and historical imagination works for me; she is sympathetic with the characters, and also willing to make their habits and attitudes visibly strange to modern readers, if that makes sense. The first two in the series, A Morbid Taste for Bones and One Corpse Too Many, are both very strong, I think. The sixth one – The Virgin in the Ice – is also a particular favorite of mine. Oh, and Brother Cadfael is totally a monk! it’s just a second career for him, as it were.