I've seen books by Ellis Peters (pen name for Edith Pargeter) on many shelves for some years, but somehow have never been tempted to read them before now. I quite like the light crime genre, and the twist of having a mediaeval monk as the crime-solver sounded intriguing... but still, I never quite found myself taking the plunge.
We even started collecting a few of Ellis Peters' books ourselves, as one of my teenage sons likes them. He persuaded me to try one and to read it aloud to him and his brother, as I couldn't think of anything else. So I agreed.
'The sanctuary sparrow' is actually the seventh in the Brother Cadfael series, but they all stand alone so it didn't matter that I hadn't read any of the others.
The book opens as Liliwin, a juggler, claims sanctuary at the monastery. He has been accused of robbing someone at a wedding, and has been running away from a mob who want his life.
Brother Cadfael does not believe that Liliwin is guilty. So he does some low-key investigating in a fairly thorough way, before finally uncovering the truth. There's also a mild love interest, with a servant girl who is keen on Liliwin.
I thought it was a very well-told story, with sufficient clues to enable the reader to guess who the guilty person was, eventually, but without it being obvious too early in the book.
All in all, I enjoyed it. The ending is certainly satisfying, and it made a good novel to read aloud. I won't be rushing to read others in the series, but will probably pick up others at odd moments in the future.
The Brother Cadfael series are often seen in second-hand stores or charity shops, but this one is still in print in paperback in the UK if you want a new edition.
Most of the fiction books I read are by female authors. So it was quite a surprise to find a novel intended for the women's market that was written by a man. I had never before heard of Adrian Mourby; it seems that he hasn't written much else anyway. But the blurb on the back of 'We think the world of him' sounded very interesting.
The book is written, sensibly, from a male point of view. Duncan is the main protagonist; he becomes a 'house-husband' after being made redundant. He agrees to take over the household chores and cooking, and look after the children fully, while is wife returns to full-time employment.
Duncan throws himself into his new role, and finds to his surprise that he quite enjoys it. Naturally he meets several mothers at the school gates, and they all befriend him, anxious to help whenever they can. He also meets an attractive but not so nice businesswoman.
As Duncan gets used to his new role, and the new emotions connected with it, he succumbs to a temptation which nearly destroys his marriage, before realising what is truly important to him.
I thought this book was very believable, with warm characters and a good mixture of people. It 's fast-paced and very readable - and I thought the ending was encouraging. Definitely recommended, although it now seems to be out of print.
I shall be looking out for more books by Adrian Mourby, if I can find them.
