1980;
222 pages. New Author? : No. Book 3 (out of 21) in the “Brother Cadfael” series.
Genre : Murder-Mystery; Cozy; Historical Fiction. Overall
Rating : 8*/10.
It’s December in 1138 AD, and somebody at the
Shrewsbury Abbey is definitely not in the Christmas spirit.
Certainly
not Gervase Bonel who, along with his wife and servants, has recently moved into one of
the guesthouses on the abbey grounds. He
now lies at Brother Cadfael’s feet, dead of poisoning after eating his evening supper. Who would do such a foul deed this close to Christmas?
The foremost suspect is his wife’s son, Edwin, who was present at
Gervase’s final meal, and had a heated argument with him. Edwin had access to the poison, identified as the titular Monk’s
Hood, and knew of its deadly qualities.
He fled during the meal, and is now being hunted by the local
authorities.
Actually, there’s a second suspect, and an embarrassing one at that. The Monk’s Hood was taken from Brother
Cadfael’s workshop, which means he had access to it and of course knew of its lethal properties.
Ordinarily, Brother Cadfael is above suspicion, but it turns out he
knows Gervase’s widow from an earlier time.
They were sweethearts long ago, before he went off to the Crusades and
she became betrothed to another. But
surely now that he’s taken his vows of the brotherhood, he’s no longer tempted
by the ways of the flesh, right?
Then why was he caught sneaking over to see the widow at the guesthouse,
“after hours”, and in secret?
What’s To Like...
I’ve been an avid reader of the Brother Cadfael
series for quite some time, since I like both historical fiction and a good murder-mystery. It’s always fun to watch how Brother Cadfael, limited by 12th-century crime-solving technology, conducts his investigation, since things like fingerprints, lie-detector tests,
and DNA-analysis are obviously not options.
Cadfael is blessed with a strong working knowledge of herbs and
potions, which here allows him here to quickly deduce the “how” of the crime. But the “why” and the “who” are well-hidden.
The
book is written in English, not American.
So we are honoured
to be here, can baulk
in revulsion at the ageing process, and wilfully keep up a stout defence. Spellchecker hates it when I write sentences
like that.
Monk’s Hood is unusual in that it’s the first book
in the series that I’ve read where there is no Romance angle as a possible
motive. Brother Cadfael’s past
relationship with Richildis (Gervase’s widow) doesn’t make him a suspect to the reader (he is, after
all, the protagonist in this series), but his getting seen in her
cottage at night gets him grounded, which naturally impedes his sleuthing. Not all of Cadfael’s other plans go smoothly: the
sheriff’s sergeant doesn’t like him meddling and one of his handpicked hiding places for a suspect gets
discovered by chance. Ellis Peters also throws some dead ends and red herrings into the mix, and all this adds up
to there being no slow spots in the tale.
From
a historical fiction angle, I was intrigued by the medieval “retirement
plan”. Gervase owns an estate, but he’s
getting up in years. So in exchange for
a small guest cottage on the abbey grounds, plus room and board for life, he
agrees to deed his land and home to the abbey.
I always wondered how the medieval churches accrued such vast holdings of real
estate over the centuries. This
“arrangement” is certainly a factor.
Monk’s Hood is 222 pages long, divided
into 11 chapters; so they average 20 pages each. The murder occurs on page 44, so you don’t
have to wait too long for the intrigue and excitement to begin. In addition to all the goings-on in
Shrewsbury, we get to accompany Brother Cadfael to nearby Wales. Cadfael has his roots there, and as a
history buff, I always find his trips there to be a delight.
Kewlest New Word ...
Stravaiging (v.)
: wandering about aimlessly; strolling; sauntering (Scottish/Irish).
Others : Moiety
(n.); Messuage
(n.).
Excerpts...
“You’re young,”
said Brother Cadfael, “and need your sleep.”
“I forbear,” said
Brother Mark cautiously, “from making the obvious rejoinder.”
“I think you’d
better. Very well, then, you have signs
of a cold, and should go to your bed.”
“I have not,”
Brother Mark disagreed firmly. “But if you
mean that you have some work on hand that you’d rather I did not know about,
very well, I’ll go to the warming-room like a sensible fellow, and then to
bed.”
“What you know
nothing about can’t be charged against you,” said Brother Cadfael,
conciliatory. (pg. 75)
“I feel ashamed
now. It was wicked of me to feel such
pleasure in someone else’s downfall.”
“Oh, come, now!”
said Cadfael absently, busy unpacking his scrip and replacing the jars and
bottles he had brought back with him.
“Don’t reach for the halo too soon.
You have plenty of time to enjoy yourself, even a little maliciously
sometimes, before you settle down to being a saint. It was beautiful, and almost every soul
there rejoiced in it. Let’s have no
hypocrisy.” (pg. 215)
“He! (…) The he whose something
that was not a vial, we did not find?” (pg.
119 )
The ending is good, although not particularly
complex or twisty. I had the murderer
pegged from almost the beginning, but whether this was due to improving my
sleuthing skills or just getting lucky, I can’t say. I especially liked the way Brother Cadfael
handled the sentencing of the perpetrator.
The case is solved at page 192, and the remaining 30 pages deal with
tying up several side plots, including :
Abbot Heribert being called to London and expecting to be fired,
The villein Aelfric becoming a freeman,
An
ambitious member of the abbey getting his comeuppance, and
Cadfael and Richildis catching up on old news.
Because these plotlines don't get tied up all at the same time meant that the ending doesn't feel rushed, which I appreciated.
8 Stars. Monk’s Hood
was an enjoyable read for me from start to finish. Perhaps this is because there was no
“disapproved romance” in it, which is normally an Ellis Peters staple. Or perhaps it’s because it’s been about a
year-and-a-half I last read a Brother
Cadfael book, and everything in Monk's Hood, from both the historical and mystery angles, seemed fresh and vibrant. I've read about half the books in the series now, and my Kindle and my TBR shelf both contain a
couple more of the tales.
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