The Gardens of the Dead

Another novel in the series about Father Anselm by William Brodrick.

The first Father Anselm novel was The Sixth Lamentation, a novel I have not read. The Gardens of the Dead runs a little slow in the Father Anselm sections. The other characters are far more interesting. Father Anselm is a bit like a conductor of an orchestra, not really interesting unless you want to be a conductor. The highlights are the individual musicians.

The description of life in a monastery is interesting for a short while but is not dramatic. The lawyers and other characters have dramatic lives worth reading.

The author, William Brodrick, was an Augustinian friar who left the monastery to become a barrister. The main character, Father Anselm, does the reverse, then is called back by a barrister friend to investigate what could be a murder. The pace is a nice slow holiday reading pace, not an exciting keep you up at night read.

Published 2006 by Little, Brown then in 2007 in paperback by Sphere. ISBN 978-0-7515-3419-1. www.littlebrown.co.uk