Monks-Hood - Ellis Peters
First published 1980.
Brother Cadfael is a monk in an English monastery in the 1100s. He tends to his garden, makes poultices and various other medical concoctions, and honours his vow of obedience to the abbot. He also, apparently, solves murders. This is the first Cadfael book I have read, but there are apparently about 20 of them (I think this is book 3). Having read this one and liked it, I imagine I'll hunt out some of the others before too long.
In this particular book, Cadfael is horrified when a particular oil he has made, with one ingredient being the poisonous Monks-Hood plant, is used to commit a murder. Because of this connection he is keen to find the culprit, and more so because the widow of Gervase Bonel, the man murdered, turns out to be Richildis, the woman Cadfael considered marrying years earlier before taking his vows. Richildis's young son, Edwin, is the prime suspect, but Cadfael soon has strong reasons to doubt his guilt. Cadfael finds himself guarding Edwin's whereabouts, reassuring Richildis, and attempting to solve Bonel's murder, all while having to deal with the scandal that a monk associating with his old flame (however innocently) is producing within the abbey!
This element of the story is done well, and is quite interesting. Cadfael is obviously very devoted to his role and takes his vows seriously. There is never a sense in which, however much he may disagree with the decisions of those over him in the abbey, he considers ignoring their instructions. Instead, Cadfael must use his intellect, as well as employ the aid of his younger assistant and his ally, the deputy sheriff, to do those things that he is on occasion forbidden to do because of his vows.
Like any good whodunnit there are a number of twists and turns, but Monks-Hood fits into a small minority of the genre (which I would also add The Murder of Mr Wickham to) that manage to satisfy the mystery aspect and honour the setting whilst also leaving things with a relatively 'happy' ending - no mean feat!
All in all, interesting in a lot of ways: as a whodunnit, as a period piece, and also as a fairly positive representation of a traditional form of religious observance!
Completed 16 June 2024.
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