The Leper of St. Giles / Ellis Peters

3.5 out of 5 stars

A savage murder interrupts an ill-fated marriage set to take place at Brother Cadfael's abbey, leaving the monk with a terrible mystery to solve. The key to the killing is hidden among the inhabitants of the Saint Giles leper colony, and Brother Cadfael must ferret out a sickness not of the body, but of a twisted mind.

I do love Brother Cadfael and his calm ways of solving the mysteries of his community. It helps that he has been a man of the world and has experience that those who took Holy orders early in their lives are missing. His knowledge of the behaviour of his fellow man, both positive and negative, makes him uniquely qualified in the monastery to undertake these investigations.

I wonder if a medieval Abbott would truly be so accepting of Cadfael’s adventures, but they make an excellent story series, so I’m glad that Peters came up with the idea. I love the way that she documents the details of daily life during this time period, and gently teaches the reader a bit of history along the way. A very pleasurable way to expand one’s knowledge.

I’ll look forward to reading the further adventures of the good Brother and learning more when I pick up the next book in the series.