A Morbid Taste For Bones cover art

A Morbid Taste For Bones

 Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends December 16, 2025 11:59pm GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

A Morbid Taste For Bones

By: Ellis Peters
Narrated by: Stephen Thorne
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends December 16, 2025 11:59pm GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Only £0.99 a month for the first 3 months. Pay £0.99 for the first 3 months, and £8.99/month thereafter. Renews automatically. Terms apply. Start my membership

About this listen

In 1137 the ambitious head of Shrewsbury Abbey has decided to acquire the remains of Saint Winifred for his Benedictine order. Brother Cadfael is part of the expedition sent to her final resting place in Wales, where they find the villagers passionately divided by the Benedictines' offer for the saint's relics.

Canny, wise and all too worldly, Cadfael isn't surprised when this taste for bones leads to bloody murder. The leading opponent to moving the grave has been shot dead with a mysterious arrow, and some say Winifred herself dealt the blow. Brother Cadfael knows that a carnal hand did the killings, but he doesn't know that his plan to unearth a murderer may dig up a case of love and justice, where the wages of sin may be scandal - or his own ruin.

©1984 Ellis Peters (P)2011 Hachette Digital Crime Crime Fiction Historical Murder Mystery Suspense Thriller & Suspense Fiction

Listeners also enjoyed...

 The Adventures of Brother Cadfael cover art
Eleanor the Queen cover art
The Unquiet Bones cover art
A Plague on Both Your Houses cover art
Cathedral of Bones cover art
The Wolves of Savernake cover art
The Bookseller's Tale cover art
Wine of Violence cover art
The Seeker cover art
An Honourable Thief cover art
The Novice’s Tale cover art
Morality Play cover art
The Lute Player cover art
Romola cover art
The Dark Mirror cover art
Speaks the Nightbird cover art
All stars
Most relevant
In 1137 the ambitious head of Shrewsbury Abbey has decided to acquire the remains of Saint Winifred for his Benedictine order. Brother Cadfael is part of the expedition sent to her final resting place in Wales, where they find the villagers passionately divided by the Benedictines' offer for the saint's relics.

Canny, wise and all too worldly, Cadfael isn't surprised when this taste for bones leads to bloody murder. The leading opponent to moving the grave has been shot dead with a mysterious arrow, and some say Winifred herself dealt the blow. Brother Cadfael knows that a carnal hand did the killings, but he doesn't know that his plan to unearth a murderer may dig up a case of love and justice, where the wages of sin may be scandal - or his own ruin.

In this book, Ellis Peters introduces her beloved character Brother Cadfael, herbalist to the 12th Century Shrewsbury Abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul, on the western boarder of England and Wales. A man who was well past his prime when he entered the Benedictine order, and had been, done and seen more than any man in the cloister.

I love this series, it's richly historical settings and the characters Ellis Peters created.

Personally I think this is one of the best historical mystery series about, and well worth reading.

The books are available in all formats, paperback, Kindle/ebook (free to read if you are on Kindle Unlimited at the time of reviewing) and on audiobook.

This is a review on the audio narration by Stephen Thorne, who brings the story to life in his reading.

One of the best historical mystery series.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A great medieval murder mystery. Having watched the television series of Cadfaell, and bought the DVD box set many moons ago, I thought I would give the Audible version a listen. It is superbly well narrated. Helping easily to bring the tale to life.
10/10.

Fantastic.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Unusual plot told with wit and good humour. I wish the justice shown was real.

nice ending nice wit nice humour.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I’ve listened to this book a few times now, and I find the narrator by far the best of any of those who have read these stories. I like Cadfael to be Welsh, as he was meant to be, not the tame Englishman of the TV series.
Cadfael is a wise man, who has come to the cloister after an eventful life as soldier and sailor, having gathered medical knowledge in the Middle East; it is important to realise that Arab doctors were the most advanced at that time, far ahead of Europeans, still stuck in the mindset of Galen (2nd century AD) and Hippocrates (4th C BC).

The story is a fiction based on the episode of the 1138 translation of the bones of St Winifred from Gwytherin in Wales to Shrewsbury Abbey by the real life Prior Robert. These relics would attract pilgrims and, of course, generate revenue and fame for the Abbey.

The novel assumes that the people of Gwytherin are not inclined to part with the remains of their local saint, especially into English hands, and the negotiations provide the basis of the plot. Cadfael is drafted in to translate, being a native Welsh speaker, and his wisdom and familiarity with both cultures enable him to untangle the dispute and the murder it precipitates in an ingenious way which pleases everyone.

The characters are interesting and varied. Unfortunately the Welsh personnages appear only in this one book, but the monks reoccur frequently in later episodes.

My favourite Cadfael

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Have loved these books for years and read them many times and watched the brilliant TV shows but this is my first in audio. Brilliantly read, the narrator does the accents and names well. I loved this treck into Wales with Cadfael and the working out of the plot. I'll not say more I don't want to spoil it for first time readers, just know, I'm jealous of your first steps into Shrewsbury Abbey and the herb garden. Have fun

Now onto book 2...

Wonderful

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews