Clerical Mysteries

YouTube · Post by **Menolly** » Fri Jul 29, 2005 3:29 am

My Mom read Harry Kemelman's Rabbi Small mystery series when I was a kid, and introduced them to me at a fairly early age, along with Christie's Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot.

Then, courtesy of the PBS series Mystery! (with much thanks to the BBC) I came upon the Brother Cadfael series.

Most recently, my ex-boss at the UAA introduced me to the Sister Fidelma series.

I found all of these easy reads, but still enjoyable. Especially the two dealing with different forms of Catholocism, as I know very little regarding the monastics of that faith.

Has anyone else read these and enjoyed them? Do you know of similar series I may not have heard about that I would enjoy?

Post by **Avatar** » Fri Jul 29, 2005 11:02 am

Read most of the Cadfael books, which I enjoyed thoroughly, but am unfamiliar with the others. (Except Marpel and Poirot of course.)

Ever read Eco's Name of the Rose? (Yes DL, sorry, I know. I'll check.) That's the only other "clerical" one I can think of off hand.

--A

Post by **dlbpharmd** » Fri Jul 29, 2005 11:44 am

I've never read the Cadfael books but I'm a big fan of the PBS series.

Post by **Encryptic** » Fri Jul 29, 2005 3:55 pm

Avatar wrote: Read most of the Cadfael books, which I enjoyed thoroughly, but am unfamiliar with the others. (Except Marpel and Poirot of course.)

Ever read Eco's Name of the Rose? (Yes DL, sorry, I know. I'll check.) That's the only other "clerical" one I can think of off hand.

--A

Nothing to add here, except for seconding the "Name of the Rose" suggestion.

YouTube · Post by **Menolly** » Fri Jul 29, 2005 4:22 pm

Avatar wrote:Ever read Eco's Name of the Rose? (Yes DL, sorry, I know. I'll check.) That's the only other "clerical" one I can think of off hand.

:::shaking head:::

No, I haven't. I'll look for it.

IMO, the Cadfael and Sister Fidelma series are written in a manner which appears appropriate for the time depicted. And I would say the Rabbi Small series is as well. But, the Rabbi Small series were written with current society of the time being the timeline they were set in. As such, some of the things mentioned in the narrative seem dated in the early novels in the series. But, I still enjoyed them overall.

Post by **Edge** » Fri Jul 29, 2005 6:17 pm

Oh! Oooh! GK Chesterton's 'Father Brown' mysteries!

In fact, some short story collections are available online:

The Innocence Of Father Brown

The Wisdom Of Father Brown

YouTube · Post by **Menolly** » Fri Jul 29, 2005 6:23 pm

Thanks Edge!

Post by **wayfriend** » Fri Jul 29, 2005 9:31 pm

What about the whole Deryni series?

Post by **Encryptic** » Fri Jul 29, 2005 10:27 pm

Wayfriend wrote:What about the whole Deryni series?

I love the Deryni books myself, but I wouldn't classify them as mysteries....

YouTube · Post by **Menolly** » Sat Jul 30, 2005 3:29 am

Does someone have a link to a description of the Deryni series? It's another one I do not know.

Post by **Dragonlily** » Sat Jul 30, 2005 2:00 pm

The Deryni series is by Katherine Kurtz, and the religion in it is a fantasy religion with a power struggle mixed in. I read one of them.

I have read all of Rabbi Small and Brother Cadfael. VIRGIN IN THE ICE may be my favorite Cadfael, because of one of the characters in it.

DLB, it is impossible to convey on the screen the charm of the books, even if they are a bit repetitive in some ways.

I've read some of the Sister Fidelma's, and bought several others. I try to keep up with the new releases so I won't miss out on any that go out of print. Eventually I'll get back to the series again.

Recently I read Robert Barnard's BLOOD BROTHERHOOD, a contemporary mystery about a British monastery which hosts retreats. The monastery is a throwback to ancient ways, with a modern twist.

Post by **Dragonlily** » Sat Jul 30, 2005 11:01 pm

Melony wrote::::wondering if you're referring to a character I am so happy to discover comes in to Cadfael's life, however peripherally. Or perhaps that character's mother?:::

Yes, that exact character.

Melony wrote:
Dragonlily wrote:Recently I read Robert Barnard's BLOOD BROTHERHOOD, a contemporary mystery about a British monastery which hosts retreats. The monastery is a throwback to ancient ways, with a modern twist.
Is it one novel, or a series? Sounds like a fascinating concept!

BLOOD BROTHERHOOD is one novel. Robert Barnard has written a great many mysteries, a lot of them unrelated to each other. They tend to be satire, in varying degrees of subtlety. I have enjoyed almost all of them.

Now I have to go back and find out how Libertus escapes the mob, which is baying at his heels because he desecrated the Temple of the Imperials (THE LEGATUS MYSTERY).

Post by **Dragonlily** » Sat Jul 30, 2005 11:41 pm

We need a "bashing self over head" smiley. I, yes I, lost Menoly's post in which she said the Deryni series sounds interesting and she will have to look for it.

She also said that when she left a particular job she lost access to the Sister Fidelma books.

What else, Menoly?

YouTube · Post by **Menolly** » Sun Jul 31, 2005 3:15 am

Dragonlily wrote:We need a "bashing self over head" smiley. I, yes I, lost Menoly's post in which she said the Deryni series sounds interesting and she will have to look for it.

She also said that when she left a particular job she lost access to the Sister Fidelma books.

What else, Menoly?

:::shrug:::

That's about it, other than what you quoted above. No problemo, life happens.

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Clerical Mysteries

Clerical Mysteries