Eyewitness

Chronicles of Brother Cadfael #0.3

by Ellis Peters

Another Adventure of Brother Cadfael! Adapted from the short story "The Price of Light". NOTE: this is NOT an adaptation of the Cadfael short story called "Eye Witness", also by Ellis Peters.

Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Short Stories, Crime, 12th Century, Historical

Audio Cassette

First published January 1, 1920

About the author

A pseudonym used by Edith Pargeter.

Edith Mary Pargeter, OBE, BEM was a prolific author of works in many categories, especially history and historical fiction, and was also honoured for her translations of Czech classics; she is probably best known for her murder mysteries, both historical and modern. Born in the village of Horsehay (Shropshire, England), she had Welsh ancestry, and many of her short stories and books (both fictional and non-fictional) were set in Wales and its borderlands.

During World War II, she worked in an administrative role in the Women's Royal Naval Service, and received the British Empire Medal - BEM.

Pargeter wrote under a number of pseudonyms; it was under the name Ellis Peters that she wrote the highly popular series of Brother Cadfael medieval mysteries, many of which were made into films for television.

Reviews

[H (trying to keep up with GR friends) Balikov · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eye Witness is part of the prequel Peters wrote after she had penned about 20 Brother Cadfael novels. Cadfael seems well established in Shrewsbury’s Benedictine Abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul. He is known for his skills as an herbalist and the Abbey now has the Abbot who will come to recognize his skills as a medical examiner.

In this slight piece, Cadfael isn’t required to track down a murderer….only a thief and attempted murderer. The characters are interesting but not unusual. We get to explore a bit of the lives of beggars and packmen and stewards and copyists. Peters is as good as always at describing both daily interactions and the natural world.

I wouldn’t recommend this to someone who wasn’t already engaged in the series. It’s life in one’s mind is no longer than a tic tac on one’s tongue and about as pleasurable. 2.5*

[Asheley T. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is probably my least favorite of the three prequel stores from A Rare Benedictine which introduce Cadfael from his time as a soldier over the years until he becomes really good at sleuthing. In this story, the Abbey’s tax collector is attacked and nearly killed after a day of collecting money and his pouch of coins has been stolen. We see Cadfael not only provide medical care to the injured man, but institute a plan to catch the attempted murderer coming to finish the job.

I maintain my stance that Peters’ writing is a little tough for me to get used to but I do think I’m getting a little better at it the more I read. I’m thinking that I will probably enjoy the full-length novels in this long series as palate cleansers between longer reads. This series takes place in the 1100’s which is a time period that I really enjoy.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

good short mystery

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

4 Stars

Eye Witness is Book #0.3 in the Chronicles of Brother Cadfael by Ellis Peters...

Full Review Still to Come.

[Zuzana · Rating 3 out of 5]

See A Rare Benedictine.