Hemlock at Vespers : Fifteen Sister Fidelma Mysteries
- Book Review,
by Peter Tremayne
From Booklist
Capitalizing on the popularity of his Sister Fidelma novels, Tremayne offers the complete set of Sister Fidelma short stories. These 15 tales feature inimitable and unshakable sleuth Sister Fidelma, a seventh-century Irish nun who also doubles as a distinguished advocate of the law courts of Ireland. Like he does in the book-length mysteries the author uses these short stories to illustrate the unique, often coequal, role played by women in Ireland during this surprisingly enlightened era. The arrangement of the stories is strictly chronological, enabling devoted readers to fill in the voids between the novels. In each story Fidelma displays her usual knack for uncovering timeless, all too human motives as she solves crimes under the ancient Brehon law system in Ireland. A treasure trove of small gems for historical mystery fans. Margaret Flanagan
From Kirkus Reviews
Fifteen more times in these Sister Fidelma stories, Tremayne's Celtic sleuth hits the road and sorts out crime in seventh- century Ireland. Does the peripatetic investigator ever go home? Never, in six published novels; once, in the title story of a collection that takes her from apprenticeship as a Brehon advocate through disillusionment with her House of Blessed Brigid to worldly fame as the King's smart sister. Newcomers to the series (Valley of the Shadow, Mar. 2000) will be fascinated by a utopian presentation of unfamiliar social and religious history. Fans will learn little new about either Fidelma or her Ireland and may groan over repeated descriptive epithetsfrom her urchin grin to strands of her rebellious red hairbut theyll also be amazed by how the short form forces Tremayne to economize on detail and prune subplots. While too many clues are clumsy (``Holy Blood''), marring otherwise clever plotting (``The Horse That Died for Shame''), and too much talk (``Tarnished Halo'') has to compensate for too little character development (``A Canticle for Wulfstan''), the best stories economically evoke Fidelmas world as they illustrate her creators debts to Agatha Christiefor example, in the twisted ends of ``Invitation to a Poisoning'' and ``At the Tent of Holofernes.'' The latter, the best in the collection, dramatizes a complex mesh of betrayals that also catch up the sleuth, exploiting both Fidelma's strengths and vulnerabilities. More predictable than experimental, with the mechanical elements diluting some genuine pleasures. Still, Fidelmas fans will welcome this first-ever collection, many stories of which are appearing here for the first time. -- Copyright ©2000, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Review
"A treat for history buffs who devoured Thomas Cahill's How the Irish Saved Civilization and historical mystery fans who appreciate strong and intelligent female protagonists." --Booklist on The Subtle Serpent
"Tremayne's heroine is gutsy. She is funny. As she outwits the dull-witted and silences the foolish with a quick comment, the reader is inclined to murmur 'Bravo!' The Spider's Web is the fifth book in the series. We can only hope there will be a dozen more." --Tampa Bay Tribune
"In the simultaneously sharp-tongued and full, womanly figure of Sister Fidelma, Tremayne has created a heroine whom many readers will willingly follow. Even Brother Cadfael might have tolerated her." --Kirkus Reviews on Absolution by Murder
Review
"A treat for history buffs who devoured Thomas Cahill's How the Irish Saved Civilization and historical mystery fans who appreciate strong and intelligent female protagonists." --Booklist on The Subtle Serpent
"Tremayne's heroine is gutsy. She is funny. As she outwits the dull-witted and silences the foolish with a quick comment, the reader is inclined to murmur 'Bravo!' The Spider's Web is the fifth book in the series. We can only hope there will be a dozen more." --Tampa Bay Tribune
"In the simultaneously sharp-tongued and full, womanly figure of Sister Fidelma, Tremayne has created a heroine whom many readers will willingly follow. Even Brother Cadfael might have tolerated her." --Kirkus Reviews on Absolution by Murder
Review
"A treat for history buffs who devoured Thomas Cahill's How the Irish Saved Civilization and historical mystery fans who appreciate strong and intelligent female protagonists." --Booklist on The Subtle Serpent "Tremayne's heroine is gutsy. She is funny. As she outwits the dull-witted and silences the foolish with a quick comment, the reader is inclined to murmur 'Bravo!' The Spider's Web is the fifth book in the series. We can only hope there will be a dozen more." --Tampa Bay Tribune "In the simultaneously sharp-tongued and full, womanly figure of Sister Fidelma, Tremayne has created a heroine whom many readers will willingly follow. Even Brother Cadfael might have tolerated her." --Kirkus Reviews on Absolution by Murder
Book Description
Sister Fidelma-an Eognacht princess and sister to the king of Cashel, a religieuse of the Celtic Church and an advocate of the Brehornn court-is one of the most interesting and compelling figures in contemporary mystery fiction. In this collection of short mysteries, Tremayne fills in many of the background details of Fidelma and seventh-century Ireland not found in the novels, and weaves his always-beguiling mix of history and mystery.
About the Author
Peter Tremayne is the fiction-writing pseudonym of Peter Berresford Ellis, the leading Celtic scholar. Born of Anglo-Irish parents in Coventry, England, and taking his degrees in Celtic studies, he has published over a score of books in the field of Celtic studies. These include The Ancient World of the Celts (1998), The Celtic Empire (1990), Celtic Women (1995), Celt and roman (1998), Hell or Connaught: the Cromwellian Colonisation of Ireland (1975), A Dictionary of Irish Mythology (1987), The Celtic Chronicle: Retellings of Celtic Myths and Legends (1999) among others. He has received numerous awards and honors for his work, which has been translated into more than a dozen European languages as well as Japanese.
He began writing fiction as peter Tremayne in 1977, mainly in the field of heroic and supernatural fantasy, using Celtic myth and legend as background. His Lan-Kern sword and sorcery trilogy (1980-1983) and books such as Raven of Destiny (1984), Ravenmoon [US title: Bloodmist] (1988) and Island of Shadows (1991) secured his reputation in the genre. No less than half a dozen of his short stories have been chosen to appear in collections of Great Irish Stories and his own collection of stories, Aisling and Other Irish Tales of Terror (1992), won high literary praise. He began to write Sister Fidelma mysteries in 1993 primarily to illustrate the role of women as lawyers in seventh-century Ireland. The stories have attracted to a wide following on both sides of the Atlantic and in translation.
Buy from Amazon
Compare Prices
|
|
Home
