A Rare Benedictine (1988)

A pre-brother Cadfael story and two tails of misdeeds at and about the Abbey that could have happened any when, but are set before A Morbid Taste for Bones. ( )

Three nic short stories about Cadfael's early days ( )

Ellis Peters has written twenty novels about Brother Cadfael, a Benedictine monk serving in Shrewsbury in the 12th century. But how did he get there after a life as Crusader in the Holy Lands? A rare Benedictine gives us the answer to our questions in the first short story. Here he meets and helps Father (then Prior) Heribert and, at the same time, finds his life's work in middle age.

There are two other stories: a story of missing candlesticks and a robbery of Abbey funds. And only one almost dead body. Brother Cadfael solves each mystery by his knowledge of human nature. This is a welcome addition to the Cadfael Chronicles. ( )

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Title: A Rare Benedictine
Series: Brother Cadfael #21
Author: Ellis Peters
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Medieval Mystery
Pages: 130
Format: Digital Edition

Synopsis:

3 short stories. One about how Cadfael chose to become a monk and then 2 that were referenced in other books but never fleshed out.

My Thoughts:

Apparently, the previous book, Brother Cadfael's Penance, was the “real” final book in the series. I kind of wish I had known that going in to this book so I wasn't constantly looking for a series wrapup.

This was just a series of short stories about Cadfael. Beyond the first one where we find out just how Cadfael becomes a monk, the other stories felt extremely familiar, almost like re-treads. Nothing bad but nothing really good either. Decent reads is what I'd qualify it as.

I felt very “whatever” at the end of the book and am glad I'm done with Cadfael. Between this and the bomb that P.D. James turned out to be, I think I'm done with any sort of “mystery” genre or sub-genre for quite some time.

★★★☆☆ ( )

Tre racconti brevi. Il primo (a mio avviso il migliore) racconta la 'vocazione' di fr. Cadfael ( )