The Leper of Saint Giles is the fifth book in the series about Brother Cadfael. It had a bit more complexity to the plot than in some of the earlier books, but I felt like the situation with the young woman was similar enough to that in Saint Peter's Fair, the previous book in the series, that it was like deja vu.

The Cadfael books are full of wonderful characters, and this book really makes use of them. Cadfael's former assistant is working with lepers and comes into the story at times. He has a new assistant who also starts to play more of a role. The abbot, unlike what I remember from the TV movies of these mysteries, is thoughtful and often supports Cadfael's desire to find out what is really going on. In addition, there are all the non-recurring characters, who are especially good in this book.

For those who enjoy historical fiction, the setting is excellent. It is a world of knights and castles, but also of civil war and serfdom. Times were hard for a lot of people. I find it fascinating to read about it.

Even as I read, I thought, "I bet a lot of people will say that this is their favorite of the Cadfael books." The deja vu feeling from the previous book was the only issue with what was otherwise an engaging plot, which had a lot of complexity. I guess I could also say that Cadfael didn't play a main role in parts of the book, which was less my thing, but it worked out by the end.

Should you read this book? The Brother Cadfael books are great, so of course you should read them. Also, I think it is useful to read them in order, especially for this book, because there are so many recurring characters in it. On the flip side, you can see that the main issue I had was with the similarity to one element in an earlier book. Maybe give yourself some time between books? Don't be as fussy as I am? I don't know the answer, but I will certainly keep reading.