In The Leper of Saint Giles, Ellis Peters’ fifth Brother Cadfael novel, we get a few more details about Cadfael’s crusading past. While I don’t think I’m interested enough to read a honkin’ big history on the Crusades, there’s something strangely evocative about the images Cadfael recalls—the storming of Jersusalem, Guimar de Massard breaching the gate, the battle of Ascalon against the Fatamids of Egypt, “Bohemond and Baldwin and Tancred, squabbling like malicious children over their conquests” . . .
The plot centers around the granddaughter of Guimar de Massard, who is being married off against her will to a nasty piece of work—until he’s murdered, of course. The story’s not as intriguing as The Virgin in the Ice, but it’s nice to see Brother Mark again, and these lepers are a lot better company than Thomas Covenant, for certain.