bu Melissa Oleen Rowan Public Library
Everyone
has very specific genres they love.
Lately, I have been enamored of historical mysteries, pre-1500 with a
nun/monk as the sleuth. Good writers in
this genre treat the reader to interesting historical facts, insights into the lifestyles
of early religieuse and puzzling mysteries in which the reader is given
everything they need to know to solve the crime on their own. In a period where the common person had few
of the luxuries we enjoy today, why would anyone wish to commit to a lifestyle
where unless you were one of the top ranking members, you would experience even
fewer? Obviously religious beliefs are
the prime reason but social and political intrigues often played a part as well
– and these reasons combined with differing religious philosophies can lead to
some good mysteries. Add close living
quarters, limited freedoms, lots of sin and you’ve got plenty of criminal
motivations.
You
may already be thinking of The Name of
the Rose by Umberto Eco. Set in an
Italian Abby in 1327, Brother William of Baskerville arrives to investigate
allegations of heresy and then murder. Besides
an excellent whodunit, the reader receives an education in Middle Ages religion
and the histories of various sects. A reviewer once wrote that reading a novel
by Eco instantly raises your IQ by a couple of points. If Name
of the Rose seems a little much for summer leisure reading, try the Sister Fidelma
and Brother Cadfael mystery series.
Sister
Fidelma is a young “brilliant and beguiling” heroine-sleuth with green eyes and
red hair who lives in 7th century Ireland. British author and Celtic scholar Peter
Tremayne inserts plenty of historical information about the Roman church and
how it was overcoming the Celtic church.
Readers get an idea what life was like in Celtic Ireland. There were still mixed sex monasteries, monks
and nuns were allowed to marry and women could become lawyers and judges. Sister Fidelma, a practical, no-nonsense woman
and wise beyond her years, is also a qualified dalaigh, an advocate of the
ancient laws of Ireland. She is often
joined on her adventures by her friend and ideological opposite, Anglo Saxon
Brother Eadulf. Absolution by Murder is the first title in this series that now
includes over 25 novels and short stories.
Penance of the Damned will
come out this July so you have plenty of time to catch up.
Author
Ellis Peters (pseudonym of Edith Pargeter) set her historically accurate
mysteries in the first half of the 12thcentury. Her wily Brother Cadfael, was a soldier who fought
in the crusades and then sea captain on the coasts of the Holy Land before taking
orders at the Benedictine abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul near the Welsh
boarder in Shrewsbury. Brother Cadfael,
a little less reserved than Sister Fidelma, is a “squat, barrel-chested,
bandy-legged veteran of 57” with a healthy sense of mischief. Morbid
Taste for Bones is the first title in this 20 title series.
Already familiar
with the series covered here but would like to discover more clerical
detectives? I recommend you visit www.detecs.org for a very comprehensive list
of clerical detectives.
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