Brother Cadfael

Recently finished two books in the Brother Cadfael mystery series by Ellis Peters (real name Edith Pargetter). I read #5, The Leper of St. Giles, and #7, The Sanctuary Sparrow. Both are fun murder-mystery page-turners set in 12th-century England (Brother Cadfael is a monk in a Benedictine monastery in western England).

I won't recap the plots of either book, but reading them made me think about mysteries and how hard it is to craft them. There are only a few named characters in each book, and one of those characters turns out to be the murderer in each case. I actually figured out who the murderer was in #7. Which points to a dilemma murder mystery writers must have: If you make the murderer plausible and provide real clues, it's more likely your reader will figure it out. Whereas if you hide clues and have the murderer be a character from the fringes, that's kind of cheating.

Which is why I don't think I'll ever try a murder mystery. Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Dorothy Sayers--and Ellis Peters--are safe.

Oh, one more thing: Nerzhin, we're not offended that you have started your own blog. We are, however, deeply offended that you don't even have a link to this blog on your page. For shame!