Cadfael: One Corpse Too Many

 

So I've just finished reading Ellis Peters' "One Corpse too Many," which is probably my favorite Brother Cadfael book.

It's a little heftier than her other books and broods over a dark subject: Murder at the time when so much death occurred at the hands of the partisans for Empress Maud and King Stephen as they battled for the heart and soul of England.

Peters excels at characterization and pacing, especially so in this book, which has two mysteries wrapped in one. As with Tolkien, there is more than one ending, but Peters paces them briskly and doesn't make the second feel overdrawn.

And as much as I love Derek Jacobi's portrayal of Cadfael in the British TV series, the books are so much better. So many thoughtful tidbits to read and to ponder as we figure out how to navigate a world that is as perilous from Cadfael's as it is distant.

This bit, from One Corpse Too Many's opening page, gives me something to ponder: "Cadfael was left to do everything alone, but he had in his time laboured under far hotter suns than this, and was doggedly determined not to let his domain run wild, whether the outside world fell into chaos or no."

That, of course, did not mean inaction in the sight of injustice, but certain, deliberate, intelligent action that kept peace and the desire for peace at its center. I try to remind myself of that a lot these days.