CADFAEL
ONE CORPSE TOO MANY
This month we have a classic TV series, the CADFAEL medieval mysteries, starring Sir Derek Jacobi as "man of the world turned man of the cloth" Cadfael, which are now all available as DVDs. I recently watched ONE CORPSE TOO MANY again, and was even more amazed than I had been when I first saw it on TV several years ago by how well it had been adapted, how much trouble had been taken with it and how close it had kept to the original story.
For anyone out there who doesn't know something of either the Cadfael books or the TV series, it is set in the 12th century when civil war broke out in England following the death of Henry I. He had no son, and named his daughter, Matilda (Maud) his heir, but many people preferred her cousin Steven (for obvious sexist reasons). Matilda, though, wasn't going to give in easily (she was the granddaughter of William the Conqueror!), the ensuing fighting was blood-thirsty, and you died if you find yourself on the wrong side in the wrong place at the wrong time.
This is what happened at Shrewsbury Castle, when Steven seized it and condemned all the defenders still loyal to Matilda to death. Ninety-four people were executed. But when Cadfael counted the bodies, he found ninety-five. Someone had used the rows of corpses as a convenient hiding-place for the body of his victim.
Despite King Steven's indifference - who cares, ninety-four, ninety-five? - Cadfael investigates, and his investigations are not made any easier by the fact that the young lay-brother who has been appointed his assistant is not a boy at all, but a girl in disguise.
The whole series is highly recommended.
KB
