A beautiful orphan heiress (Iveta) with a large dowry and mercenary guardians is about to be forced into a marriage of convenience with a rich but loathsome toad (Huon de Domville). When Huon's young, handsome retainer (Joscelyn Lucy) expresses his love for Iveta and his opposition to the marriage, he is fired, Huon is murdered, and the hunt is on for Joss. He could easily escape, but he will not leave until he can rescue Iveta from her guardians.

Joss takes refuge in a leper colony and is aided by an ancient, eight-fingered leper called Lazarus and a young boy whose mother is dying of leprosy. Can Joss escape the hangman's noose? Can the Iveta escape her guardians? Can the two star-crossed lovers be reunited? Who is this mysterious Lazarus?

Only one man in the whole of England can unravel this mystery, and he happens to be living in the nearby Abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul. He is, of course, the Abbey's herbalist, Brother Cadfael, a former Crusader and pirate.

This was my first foray into the Brother Cadfael series, having recently retrieved several of them from the neighbors giveaway bin. I think I am already hooked! It's too bad this series is not more widely available in the US (or perhaps I don't inhabit the right bookselling establishments).

This is standard mystery fare for the most part, but with several unique twists. First and foremost is the 12th century England setting. This is quite educational in and of itself, especially for Yanks ill-versed in English history or for anyone who thinks that nothing happened durring the Middle Ages. The details certainly give you a sense of historical accuracy, although I am not not a qualified judge of such things. I was also interested to find out that one can explore the remains of the locale in present day Shrewsbury.

Brother Cadfael himself is a unique character. Although I believe the clergyman-cum-detective has been done before (actually he is a monk but not a priest), his work is complicated by the fact that he is never officially authorized (in this book anyway) by the sheriff to investigate the crime, nor is he paid for his work. Most of his investigations are surreptitious and voluntary, performed to satisfy his curiousity and desire for justice.

This particular book, in addition to the mystery, gives us a striking love story, involving an arranged marriage and forbidden love. While the outcome of the love story is never really in doubt, it does give you a rooting interest while you observe the investigative evidence unfold. There is also a fascinating look at the world of leprosy, one which has probably not changed much in many countries and which has only changed in the developed world in the last 100 years. To top things off there is a surprise twist involving Muslim-Christian relations, which is remarkably apropos for today's world despite having been written 20 years ago about something that took place a milleniumn ago.

One word of caution: as a consequence of the attempt at historical accuracy, there are many vocabulary words and turns-of-phrase that are obscure in modern English (especially American English), which tends to slow the reading down some. For those who want to broaden their vocabulary a dictionary would be useful, although the general gist of the story is usually evident from the context. In any case, don't be put off, it's worth the effort!

In this fifth chronicle of Brother Cadfael of the abbey of St.Peter and St.Paul of Shrewsbury, a young, reluctant heiress is brought to the abbey for a marriage, forced on her by her greedy guardians, to a much older, gross mannered man, Huon de Domville. The prospective bride loves a young squire of her own age, but all of her protests are swept away in the name of joining together, two considerable estates. On the eve of the wedding, de Domville dismisses his servants and rides out alone for one last visit to his mistress, before the marriage takes place, but is found murdered in the woods, with clues firmly pointing to the young squire, Joscelin Lucy. Lucy had been overheard in the local inn by many people the evening before, making threatening remarks about de Domville while getting fall down drunk. Joscelin is arrested but manages to elude his captors, hiding in the nearby leper colony, which is supervised by Cadfael's protege, Brother Mark. The abbot enlists the aid of Cadfael in sorting out the mess, but when the murdered body of the girl's guardian is also discoverd, only Cadfael looks in the right direction to clear up the mysteries. As ever, in these fascinating books, Cadfael emerges as a man ahead of his time, as a clear thinking problem solver who cuts through prejudice and superstition, to bring everything to a satisfactory conclusion.

Ellis Peters' "The Leper of St. Giles" starts off as, and continues to be, more of a pure love story than any of its predecessors. Since it is a Cadfael story, murder and mystery do indeed rear their ugly heads. Once more, Cadfael is called (with the support of his nifty new abbot) to do more than mix herbs.

Cadfael's former apprentice Brother Mark has left the nest as the story begins. One of the great joys in this book is to see the continued growth of Mark as a minister. In fact it is Mark, more so than Cadfael, who finds himself in the center of the action in "The Leper of Saint Giles."

This is a story that has a lot to do with the meaning of identity and the impact of deception. The basic plot revolves around a lowly squire who loves a wealthy heiress. The problem is, the heiress' wretched relations are intent on marrying her off for financial gain. From this rather nasty situation springs murder and false accusation. It is the job of Cadfael and Mark to make things right.

The more I read of Ellis Peters, the more I admire her work. She had a unique literary voice. So much wisdom is imparted in each story. This is doubly true in "The Leper of St. Giles." The reader is left questioning the actions of Cadfael and pondering the meaning of Justice.

While I am left with many questions and I missed Cadfael's old buddy Hugh, I found this book to be one of the more satisfying Cadfael stories. I highly recommend "The Leper of St. Giles."

The Leper of Saint Giles the fifth book in Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael series, exemplifies everything which is laudable in her series. Peters' shines in creating characters who we love, and excels in the ability to set the stage in the medieval world. Balancing mystery with romance is never an easy matter and Ellis Peters has created an entire series where this is her forte. In addition this series does not cling to the traditional sense of justice found in many other mysteries.

Brother Cadfael is at his best. He is both a spiritual being and a worldly one. He is as comfortable in the church as he is talking with a knights mistress. Cadfael has an innate ability to sense what is good in true in a person and works actively to support those with just causes. In the instance of this novel it is a young squire, Joss and a wealthy heiress Iveta. Iveta is a pawn of her aunt and uncle who plan to marry her to an aging knight and divide her land between them. Joss loves Iveta and plans on finding away to protect her. when a murder halts the marriage, Joss is the first suspect.

The setting is once again the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in Shrewsbury, but this time it also includes the leper colony of Saint Giles. the reader is introduced to some of the horrors and indignities which the lepers lived through. Brother Mark works among them and recognizes the dignity of the human spirit.

I suggest this book as reading for those who love medieval mysteries.