M is for More Book Reviews

 Here are more books I've read recently.

A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters, historical mystery, 1977

This is the first of 20 historical mysteries featuring the 12th-century Welsh monk Brother Cadfael. Kris recommended it in the comments on my last book review post. 

In this one, an ambitious priest wants to bring the remains of Saint Winifred from Wales to his abby in England. The town does not want to let her go, and a murder happens while the monks are in Wales to retrieve her. Through different deductions and tests, Brother Cadfael figures out who did it. 

I enjoyed the book but had some difficulty reading it, at least in the beginning. First, I was unfamiliar with the hierarchy and some of the religious practices of the Catholic church, especially in the 1100s. Next, the Welsh names and some of the local words were unfamiliar to me. However, about halfway through, I found a glossary in the back of the book with many of the Welsh words defined. 

The book was richer than the cozy mysteries I sometimes read, and I will add more Brother Cadfael books to the rotation when I'm in the mood for a mystery.

The Mayfair Bookshop by Eliza Knight, historical fiction, 2022.

Granny Sue recommended this book on her blog. She said it was the best book she had read in a while, so I put it on my list to read.

The Mayfair Bookshop is based on the life of Nancy Mitford and her family during WWII in England. The book follows Nancy through her younger, carefree days in a high-society family into a bad marriage and the horrors of WWII. While Nancy is loyal to England and tirelessly helps the war effort, some of her sisters are in Hitler's inner circles. This causes much strife in the family.

The book fluctuates between chapters about Nancy during WWII and the present day when Lucy is trying to solve the mystery of who Iris was in Nancy's life. The present-day story is less compelling than Nancy's, but it's okay.  

While the book is fiction, it is a fact-based story, including almost all names, dates, and places. The Mitfords were often in the newspaper for scandals and wrote copious letters, so much was known about them.  

I agree with Granny Sue and would recommend this book. I have requested Nancy's 1945 novel The Pursuit of Love from the library. It was her first commercially successful novel, and the Mayfair Bookshop describes the circumstances under which it was written. I am curious to see what I will think about it in the present day.

Note: Since I wrote this, I have read The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford. The book focuses on the narrator, Fanny, and her cousin, Linda. Linda is a somewhat one-dimensional character who is in pursuit of love. Mitford is definitely writing about what she knows, and the characters in this book are recognizable from her family, with Linda being a combination of a couple of the Mitford girls. The book was okay, but I won't be reading the next one.