The Saturday Morning Post (No. 83)

I have (well had at the time I wrote this post and read this book) several books on hold at the library that should be showing up soon, so to hold me over, yet another Cadfael mystery this week. What will I do after I've read the last one?

My reviewer criteria. I like light, entertaining novels. I like smaller scale stories rather than epics. I like character focused novels featuring pleasant characters, with a minimum number of unpleasant ones. I greatly value clever and witty writing. I like first person, or close third person narratives. I dislike a lot of "head jumping" between POVs and flashbacks. I want a story, not a puzzle. While I am not opposed to violence, I dislike gore for the sake of gore. I find long and elaborate fight, action, and battle sequences tedious. Plot holes and things that happen for the convenience of the author annoy me. And I fear I'm a born critic in that I don't mind pointing out what I don't like in a story. However, I lay no claim to be the final arbitrator of style and taste, you need to decide for yourself what you like or dislike in a book.

Your opinions are always welcome. Comment below.

The Potter's Field by Ellis Peters  A

A body is uncovered when the Abby of St Peter and Paul puts a plow to a field that they had exchanged with with another abbey. The Field used to used by a Potter who decided after many years of marriage that he had the calling to become a monk, and left his wife to become one. This was allowed at the time, the man was free to follow his calling, while the wife was still considered married and could not marry again. The Potter's wife very strongly objected to his decision, and disappeared shortly after her husband took to becoming a monk. The bones of a woman, who had the hair of the monk's former wife is found buried in the field close to his cottage. While there was no way to identify who this woman was, who else could it be? Suspicion turns to her former husband, now a monk. It falls on Cadfael and his friend, the sheriff, Hugh Beringer to discover the truth. And it wasn't easy, the truth being hard to come by, with may false leads.

Another good book featuring Ellis Peter's attention to characters and the time period.

There are not many Cadfael stories to go. One more novel in the omnibus volume I'm reading and two more novels and three novellas in the final omnibus volume. What will take their place?