I have only know Ellis Peters from her Brother Cadfael medieval mysteries, didn't even know she wrote a long series of contemporary mysteries. Ellis Peters is a pen name. The Grass Widows Tale felt so dated at first that I was not sure I could follow it. But it's 1960s setting is really no different than reading a story set in any other era, though it was contemporary when it was written. Like any good novel it contained some surprises and some suspense. I may read the rest of the series. ( )

I like this one - Bunty makes an excellent protagonist. This story has the most magnificently and comprehensively depressing beginning of any book I've read and actually liked. Bunty's small mid-life crisis leads her to a connection with a young man who has his own problems - and she figures out that they are not at all what he thinks they are. Then things get dangerous. No unlikely heroics, here - the heroics are very reasonable, both physically and emotionally. Lovely story, very rich. I've read it several times before and likely will again. ( )

THis is primarily about Felse's very nice wife Bunty. While George Felse is away in London, Bunty becomes involved with a dangerous criminal whom she very effectively thwarts. ( )