In this mystery in the award-winning series featuring a twelfth-century Benedictine monk, Brother Cadfael must travel to the heart of a leper colony to root out the secret behind a savage murder. Setting out for the Saint Giles leper colony outside Shrewsbury, Brother Cadfael has more pressing matters on his mind than the grand wedding coming to his abbey. But as fate would have it, Cadfael … would have it, Cadfael arrives at Saint Giles just as the nuptial party passes the colony’s gates.
When he sees the fragile bride looking like a prisoner between her two stern guardians and the bridegroom—an arrogant, fleshy aristocrat old enough to be her grandfather—he quickly discerns this union may be more damned than blessed. Indeed, a savage murder will interrupt the May–December marriage and leave Cadfael with a dark, terrible mystery to solve. Now, with the key to the killing hidden among the lepers of Saint Giles, the monk must ferret out a sickness not of the body, but of a twisted soul.
more
About a decade ago, I was gifted the complete set of Brother Cadfael mysteries from a friend who was downsizing before moving across country. I randomly picked up one from the set, read it, and was hooked. For the next couple of years, whenever I needed my Cadfael fix, I pulled a book from the pile by random and that way got through the entire series. I was crushed when I found there were no more unread books left. I fell in love with the medieval setting, with Brother Cadfael’s life, and the well-crafted characters. The Leper of Saint Giles is one of my favorites.
This was the first of these books about Brother Cadfael and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I have now read three ore and will eventually read the whole series. It was an interesting account of living in the long ago.
The Cadfael books by Ellis Peters are all well-written mysteries with richly drawn characters and a deeply understood setting. “The Leper of St. Giles” is no exception.
I have read all 20 of the Brother Cadfael books and have read them two times.
Not my favorite, but I recommend all of the Cadfael books. They are an interesting look at a very different era.
I recommend anything written by Ellis Peters. Regardless of the story she is telling, her characters are fully formed and complex, and her language is always beautiful!
A fabulous mystery
Another great book in this series!
So well written…
Excellent. Pleasure to lose yourself in another place and time.
Whodunnits medieval-style transport you to another very believable world.
Another winner in the original Cadfael series
I love the Brother Cadfael Mysterys. they’re hard to put down.
Cadfael is an interesting character in an interesting time. Straight forward detective story but certainly with an atmospheric twist of the Middle Ages.
All of the Brother Cadfael books that I have read have been excellent. It helps to read them in order of publication because of occasional references to characters or events in previous books, but this is not necessary to appreciate the book being read.
Always love Cadfael. One of the best
I love all Brother Cadfeal books
Good historical mystery. Good to reread.
I have loved every book in the Cadfael series and this lived upto my high expectations. The believable setting, the building of characters that you can relate to despite them existing hundreds of years ago…that takes a really top notch author to achieve. And the solving of the mystery is always well thought out and satisfying. Bravo.
As with all Brother Cadfil books it had many twists and turns to the plot. Presented accurate picture of that time and place.