Reading the Detectives discussion

Welcome to our buddy read of Saint Peter's Fair the fourth in the Brother Cadfael series, first published in 1981.

It is the great annual fair of St Peter at Shrewsbury. A quarrel breaks out between the local burghers and the monks from the Benedictine monastry and a riot ensues. Afterwards, a merchant is found dead and Brother Cadfael is summoned from his herb-garden to test his detective skills again.

Please feel free to post spoilers in this thread.

No long journeys in this one, as it all happens in and around the Abbey. We get to know the new abbot from the beginning, and this one gets on well with Cadfael.
What I do like about this series, is an unveiling of the procedure of investigation, something a lot of detective stories keep hidden from the reader, and so we are able to follow the actions taken

I had forgotten that this is a spy thriller wrapped in a murder mystery! The clues are there from the beginning if you watch for them. Enjoying this buddy read. I was ready for a Cadfael again!

A very pleasant re-read. The old abbot made an excellent choice with the new abbot. I enjoy the picture of Cadfael semi-sleeping behind his pillar during prayers and now the retired abbot can indulge more openly. Those poor monks never got a full night's rest.

Sandy wrote: "A very pleasant re-read. The old abbot made an excellent choice with the new abbot. I enjoy the picture of Cadfael semi-sleeping behind his pillar during prayers and now the retired abbot can indul..."

True - I love those references to Mass and chapter, where Cadfael has mastered the art of listening enough to catch the gist and anything he needs to know, may be involved in, but can still doze, apparently while looking attentive or contemplative! A wonderful skill to have - and I agree, the new abbot is a welcome addition to the cast of characters, and I remember well from previous reads and viewings of Sir Derek J’s Cadfael dramatizations, how he, with his intelligence and firm but fair hand, keeps the ambitious and rather spiteful Prior Robert in his place. Always an entertaining sub-plot bubbling below the surface!

I read this many year ago, and enjoyed reading it again. I remember why I liked them so much as a teenager: there's always a ne'er do well that comes right by falling in love with the heroine.

I found the romance a bit simplistic this time round. People know who they're going to marry withing 5 mins of seeing each other.

If you don't let that distract you then the mystery, atmosphere and characters are top notch.

I read this last month, and found it a bit slow in the beginning, but even quicker in the end. It was solved more by chance and not only by Brother Cadfael himself.

I enjoyed this one, loved the characters and the setting - I suddenly found I was much nearer the end than I had thought, as the last 30% or so of the Kindle book was ads and a trailer for another book!

I thought it was a bit too obvious from early on that Ivo would be a villain, though, as Philip was obviously the right one for Emma so Ivo had to be evil. I also agree with you, Indeneri, that the romance was a bit too quick to develop in this one.

Judy wrote: "I enjoyed this one, loved the characters and the setting - I suddenly found I was much nearer the end than I had thought, as the last 30% or so of the Kindle book was ads and a trailer for another ..."

I wondered how it going to fill the rest of the book, so I looked at the chapter headings, and went to the beginning of all the samples - which was at 77%! So I could gauge how much more of the book there was. I might have felt cheated had it not been free with Kindle Unlimited.

I do find the young people in the Cadfael stories rather tiresome. They are usually so utterly wholesome, and innocent, and yet they only have to look at each other to be consumed with love and everlasting devotion (unless they are the villainous one, when any attraction is obviously warped or self-serving).

Rosina wrote: "I wondered how it going to fill the rest of the book, so I looked at the chapter headings, and went to the beginning of all the samples - which was at 77%! So I could gauge how much more of the book there was. I might have felt cheated had it not been free with Kindle Unlimited..."

Sorry, the last 23%! I also got it free on Kindle Unlimited.

Must agree with your comments about the young people all being very wholesome - it would be interesting to find some rather more complex young characters. Maybe later in the series?

I don't necessarily agree that Ivo was a simplistic character--given how his good looks and nice manners fooled everyone into believing he was a good guy. Perhaps that was also related to the fact he was landed gentry, and those types were given the benefit of the doubt more so than lower classes.
I also suspect that the young people were ready to marry so soon because they were full of hormones, and were unable to fulfill those urges outside of marriage. I would be curious to read what the typical length of a courting relationship was during this time period, but I suspect it was not the multi-year affair it often is now. I appreciated that both Phillip and Emma needed to mature throughout the story before they were ready to be together.

Tara, I think it's very understandable that the characters were fooled by Ivo - great point about gentry being given the benefit of the doubt, and also I agree his handsome looks helped to make a good impression.

But I just thought the author made it a bit too obvious that he probably wasn't all he seemed - I didn't think it was likely that he and Philip could both be good guys. It would have been interesting though, as it would have faced Emma with a genuine romantic dilemma.

Judy wrote: "Tara, I think it's very understandable that the characters were fooled by Ivo - great point about gentry being given the benefit of the doubt, and also I agree his handsome looks helped to make a g..."

That's a good point Judy. It would have been interesting if Emma had a more difficult choice between the two. In a way, she does make the choice before she realizes who Ivo really is. When she is unknowingly locked in the solar room, she reflects how this is not the life for her, and I believe would have rejected a marriage proposal even if he had not betrayed her. Similarly, when she was brought to the Corviser homestead, she felt at home immediately. The push-pull of the landed nobility versus the merchant class (rich or not) is a big factor throughout the book.
It was also intriguing that she primarily was bothered by Ivo's position because it was ambitious and materialistic in its motive. I think she would have been more forgiving if his views were partisan, even if they disagreed with hers.

Archetypal comfort-food Cadfael. Who is meant for each other romantically + process of elimination = whodunnit.