Series · cozy mystery
Brother Cadfael
The Brother Cadfael series by Ellis Peters has 21 books and is best read in publication order, starting with A Morbid Taste for Bones (1977).
- Books
- 21 books
- First published
- 1977
- Status
- completed
- Last checked
Start here: A Morbid Taste for Bones (1977) — then read straight through in publication order.
Reading order
The order the books were released — the default way to read the series.
- Book 1:
A Morbid Taste for Bones
Alternative text for cover: Cover of A Morbid Taste for Bones - Book 2:
One Corpse Too Many
Alternative text for cover: Cover of One Corpse Too Many - Book 3:
Monk's Hood
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Monk's Hood - Book 4:
Saint Peter's Fair
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Saint Peter's Fair - Book 5:
The Leper of Saint Giles
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Leper of Saint Giles - Book 6:
The Virgin in the Ice
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Virgin in the Ice - Book 7:
The Sanctuary Sparrow
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Sanctuary Sparrow - Book 8:
The Devil's Novice
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Devil's Novice - Book 9:
Dead Man's Ransom
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Dead Man's Ransom - Book 10:
The Pilgrim of Hate
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Pilgrim of Hate - Book 11:
An Excellent Mystery
Alternative text for cover: Cover of An Excellent Mystery - Book 12:
The Raven in the Foregate
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Raven in the Foregate - Book 13:
The Rose Rent
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Rose Rent - Book 14:
The Hermit of Eyton Forest
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Hermit of Eyton Forest - Book 15:
A Rare Benedictine
Alternative text for cover: Cover of A Rare Benedictine - Book 16:
The Confession of Brother Haluin
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Confession of Brother Haluin - Book 17:
The Heretic's Apprentice
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Heretic's Apprentice - Book 18:
The Potter's Field
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Potter's Field - Book 19:
The Summer of the Danes
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Summer of the Danes - Book 20:
The Holy Thief
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Holy Thief - Book 21:
Brother Cadfael's Penance
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Brother Cadfael's Penance
The order the story's events happen in, novellas slotted where they belong.
- Book 1:
A Rare Benedictine
Alternative text for cover: Cover of A Rare Benedictine - Book 2:
A Morbid Taste for Bones
Alternative text for cover: Cover of A Morbid Taste for Bones - Book 3:
One Corpse Too Many
Alternative text for cover: Cover of One Corpse Too Many - Book 4:
Monk's Hood
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Monk's Hood - Book 5:
Saint Peter's Fair
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Saint Peter's Fair - Book 6:
The Leper of Saint Giles
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Leper of Saint Giles - Book 7:
The Virgin in the Ice
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Virgin in the Ice - Book 8:
The Sanctuary Sparrow
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Sanctuary Sparrow - Book 9:
The Devil's Novice
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Devil's Novice - Book 10:
Dead Man's Ransom
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Dead Man's Ransom - Book 11:
The Pilgrim of Hate
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Pilgrim of Hate - Book 12:
An Excellent Mystery
Alternative text for cover: Cover of An Excellent Mystery - Book 13:
The Raven in the Foregate
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Raven in the Foregate - Book 14:
The Rose Rent
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Rose Rent - Book 15:
The Hermit of Eyton Forest
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Hermit of Eyton Forest - Book 16:
The Confession of Brother Haluin
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Confession of Brother Haluin - Book 17:
The Heretic's Apprentice
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Heretic's Apprentice - Book 18:
The Potter's Field
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Potter's Field - Book 19:
The Summer of the Danes
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Summer of the Danes - Book 20:
The Holy Thief
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Holy Thief - Book 21:
Brother Cadfael's Penance
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Brother Cadfael's Penance
About the Brother Cadfael series
Brother Cadfael is a Benedictine monk at Shrewsbury Abbey in 1120s-1140s England who came to the cloister late in life, after decades as a Crusader, sailor and soldier of fortune — worldly experience that makes him the abbey's herbalist, its most perceptive judge of character, and its de facto detective whenever a body turns up on abbey grounds or in the surrounding Shropshire countryside. Working alongside (and sometimes at odds with) the local sheriff's officers, Cadfael investigates murders set against the real historical backdrop of the Anarchy, the vicious civil war between King Stephen and the Empress Maud that convulsed 12th-century England.
Ellis Peters (the pen name of Edith Pargeter) is one of the founders of historical mystery as a genre: the Shrewsbury Abbey setting and Cadfael's monastic life are rendered with real medieval-history rigor, and the ongoing Stephen-and-Maud conflict gives the series a sense of genuine historical stakes beneath each self-contained whodunit. Cadfael himself is one of the great cozy-adjacent detective creations — worldly, humane, quietly subversive of some monastic rigidity, and endlessly curious about the sinners as well as the saints around him. It's the series for readers who want their mystery served with real medieval texture and a detective whose faith and worldliness genuinely coexist rather than conflict.
How to read this series
Publication order, starting with A Morbid Taste for Bones, is also essentially story order — Ellis Peters wrote the twenty novels roughly in the sequence Cadfael's Shrewsbury years unfold, tracking the Anarchy's progress in the background. Most entries are self-contained mysteries, so the series is forgiving of starting anywhere, but reading in order lets the civil-war backdrop develop as intended.
A Rare Benedictine (1988), a collection of three short stories, is a prequel depicting how Cadfael came to the monastic life before book one; read it whenever you like, including first if you want origin material before the main sequence, or treat it as an optional extra afterward.
Frequently asked questions
How many books are in the Brother Cadfael series?
There are 20 Brother Cadfael novels, from A Morbid Taste for Bones (1977) to Brother Cadfael's Penance (1994), plus the short-story collection A Rare Benedictine (1988).
What order should I read the Brother Cadfael books in?
Publication order, starting with A Morbid Taste for Bones, which is also essentially story order. Most mysteries are self-contained, so the series is forgiving of starting anywhere.
Is the Brother Cadfael series finished?
Yes. Ellis Peters (Edith Pargeter) completed the series with Brother Cadfael's Penance in 1994 and died in 1995; no further books were written.
What is A Rare Benedictine?
A short-story collection published in 1988 depicting Cadfael's entry into monastic life before the events of A Morbid Taste for Bones — a prequel that can be read first or at any point afterward.
Do I need to know medieval history to follow the series?
No. The novels are self-contained mysteries; the historical backdrop of the Anarchy (the civil war between King Stephen and the Empress Maud) develops gradually in the background and is explained as it becomes relevant.
Reading order last verified .