One Corpse Too Many

A rare Benedictine
Brother Cadfael is not the sort of person you would immediately peg as a brilliant detective -- a crusader-turned-monk who specializes in herbology and medicine.

But he is a brilliant detective. And "Cadfael: Complete Collection" brings together all of the BBC's adaptation of Ellis Peters' classic mysteries, which intertwine murder mysteries and medieval history. These stories are well-written, clever and full of unexpected twists -- and they're filmed with a gritty, grimy realistic flavor.

Cadfael (Derek Jacobi) is a monk at the abbey of Shrewsbury in the first half of the twelfth century. At this time, England was being ripped in half by a civil war (now called The Anarchy) between King Stephen and Empress Maud, which was dividing the populace and turning the English people against each other.

And as the war rages on, Cadfael is confronted by many different murders -- murdered nobles, framed acrobats, a corpse is hidden amongst executed "traitors," a...

Series I-IV complete, not just Series 1
Brother Cadfael (1080-_?_) is the central character in this series of historical murder mysteries adapted from the novels written by Ellis Peters; aka Edith Pargenter, (1913-1995) a self-educated scholar and award-winning author of non-fiction and historical fiction.

The novels are set at Shrewsbury Abbey in Shrewsbury, the county town of the English county of Shropshire during a period referred to in the novels as The English Civil War (The Anarchy 1135-1145/50, sources differ,) where King Stephen and Empress Maud are in a bloody contest vying for the crown. Against the backdrop of this dangerous chaos, Brother Cadfael practices his Arts of herbology, healing, and deduction.

Brother Cadfael's background is constantly in the foreground as he goes about counseling his brothers, his patients and the Under-Sheriff, Hugh Beringar, whom he often serves not only as friend and counselor but also as medical examiner, forensics department, mentor and fellow detective...

HISTORICAL MYSTERY AT IT'S FINEST
Truly a wonderful series. A Medieval England warrior converted to a monk. But in the waring times of England, there were dastardly crimes that needed solving and Brother Cadfael (masterfully played by Sir Derek Jacobi; "I, Claudius") is the man to solve the mysteries. The mystery, crime-solving, drama is as good as modern settings like Midsomer Murder. The sets are to-die-for if you are a historical story fan, and I am. These are complex cases and the period costuming and props as well as the filming settings are just whipped topping to delicious suspense and mystery.

There are plenty of guest stars including "Julian Glover, Sean Pertwee, Tara Fitzgerald, Toby Jones, Stephen Moyer, Anna Friel, Hugh Boneville, to name a few. There is also Bonus stuff: audio comments by Jacobi, an essay, Ellis Peters info, production scrapbooks, background notes, and more. The stories originated from "PBS Mystery" and were based on best-selling books by Ellis Peters.

YES, there are...

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