Smoke in the Wind FROM THE PUBLISHER
In seventh-century Ireland, then the light of reason in a darkening world, Fidelma - a religieuse, advocate of the Brehon courts, and sister to the King of Muman - is an increasingly notable figure often called upon for her wisdom, legal knowledge, and devotion to the truth. While journeying with companion Eadulf to visit the new Archbishop of Canterbury, their ship is blown badly off course and the pair find themselves on the coast of modern Wales in the kingdom of Dyfed. There, hosted by the king himself, Fidelma is presented with her knottiest problem yet - an entire monastic community from the nearby countryside has disappeared without a trace. While investigating this seeming impossibility, Fidelma and Eadulf are confronted with the apparently unrelated and shocking murder of a local girl - a death marked by more tragedy and consequence than anyone could have imagined.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
Seventh-century Irish nun Sister Fidelma faces one of her most challenging cases yet when her boat is blown off course and she and her companion, Brother Eadulf, land on the coast of the kingdom of Dyfed (modern-day Wales) in Peter Tremayne's Smoke in the Wind. Tremayne is the pen name of Celtic scholar Peter Berresford Ellis. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
Irish sleuth, lawyer, and religieuse Sister Fidelma is presented with a landlocked seventh-century variation on the Bermuda Triangle in her eleventh outing (Our Lady of Darkness, 2002, etc.). Once Fidelma and her stalwart companion Brother Eadulf land in ancient Wales, on a peninsula known as Menevia, Moniu, and doubtless other ancient names, Gwylyddien, the King of Dyfed, naturally appeals to her to investigate the mysterious disappearance of an entire religious community, the abbey of Llanpadern, comprising 27 brothers including Rhun, Gwylyddien's eldest son. The entire place has been deserted with no obvious signs of violence. Coincidentally, Brother Muerig, Fidelma's Welsh legal counterpart, is on his way to the neighboring township of Llanwnda-Fidelma stumbles over the pronunciation of this word, in a rare lexicographical lapse that amounts to an epiphany of character in Tremayne's heavy hands-to investigate the murder and rape of a young girl. Fidelma and Eadulf accompany Muerig to Llanwnda, where the trio arrives just in time to foil the lynching of Idwal, a simple-minded young shepherd whom the townspeople are convinced is guilty. Fidelma solves both the murder and the brothers' disappearance, but not before Saxon raiders and Welsh outlaws contribute to the general confusion. Ancient Celtic dictionary entries and legal aphorisms masquerade as dialogue in a novel whose whodunit is less interesting than how-do-you-pronounce-it.
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