Absolution by Murder: A Sister Fidelma Mystery [Hardcover]

Peter Tremayne (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1996

In A.D. 664, when someone murders the Abbess Etain during the synod between the Roman and Celtic churches, Sister Edelma of the Celtic Church and Brother Eadulf of the Roman must find the killer and prevent civil war.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This immensely appealing launch of a new series is set in seventh-century Ireland, which in Tremayne's rendering is a golden age of enlightenment and of total equality for women. Such narrative stumbling blocks as an abundance of stereotypical characters and much more dynastic trivia, ecclesiastical and secular history than can be absorbed are offset by the vigorous, intriguing puzzle posed by a series of murders and by Sister Fidelma, the tale's brilliant and beguiling heroine. An ecclesiastical conclave to settle major divisions between the Roman and Celtic branch of Christianity is held at Whitby in 664. When a major proponent of the Celtic way, the Abbess of Kildare, is murdered, Sister Fidelma, a fellow Celtic follower and legally trained scholar, is asked to investigate. She is paired with her ideological opposite, Brother Eadulf, on the Roman side, who is shrewd, highly educated and immediately smitten with the outspoken sister. The intellectual and physical sparks that are ignited between these two clerics (in an age before celibacy) light up the pages, and when two monks are killed and the malevolence thickens, the book becomes difficult to put down. It is reassuring to read that Sister Fidelma and Brother Eadulf will reappear... next time in Rome.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Peter Tremayne is the fiction pseudonym of a well-known authority on the ancient Celts, who has utilised his knowledge of the Brehon law system and 7th-Century Irish society to create a new concept in detective fiction. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 274 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr; First American Edition edition (January 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312139187
• ISBN-13: 978-0312139186
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #419,340 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Peter Tremayne is the fiction pseudonym of Peter Berresford Ellis, a renowned Celtic scholar who has written over 30 books on the Ancient Celts and the Irish. As Tremayne, he is best known for his stories and novels featuring 7th century Irish religieuse Fidelma of Cashel. He lives in London.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sister Fidelma beats them all!, August 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Absolution by Murder (A Sister Fidelma Mystery) (Mystery of Ancient Ireland) (Mass Market Paperback)

I stumbled across the first "Sister Fidelma-mystery" quite by accident; and I have never before had a more lucky discovery! Sister Fidelma is Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple and Father Brown all rolled into one as well as being the female equivalent to the role played by Sean Connery in "name of the rose". Tremayne writes in a style, which can only be compared to that of Agatha Christie, - with one MAJOR difference though: Where Agatha Christie often let her victims die a hoffifying death by poisoning; Tremayne displays a taste for variation: The first victim in this particular book thus meets her untimely death by throatcutting, another one is drowned in wine, and a third is hanged. I very much like the way Tremayne entertains as well as teaches at the same time. While I read this book, I learned more about the Irish legalsystem in 7th century Ireland, than I ever did at university... I have now read all but one "Sister Fidelma-mystery", and I hope that I will not be reading the last but merely the latest!

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Slow Start for Sassy Nun Mystery, July 25, 2002

By 

Rebecca M (Somerville, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Absolution by Murder (A Sister Fidelma Mystery) (Mystery of Ancient Ireland) (Mass Market Paperback)

I picked up Absolution by Murder in a used bookstore, thinking it would be a good airplane read. I soon found out that my level of ignorance pertaining to medieval Ireland was only going to make this mystery an irksome chore on an airplane!

Setting it aside to give it the time it deserves was a much better idea! Although initially slow and somewhat bogged down in the finer historical detail, I was soon swept into Sister Fidelma's world where nuns are NOT silent, men of the cloth are not always good, and politics are NEVER petty.

The characters are vivid, but Tremayne never gives away too much so that the "villians" aren't who they appear to be. He tempts the romantic with the introduction of Brother Eadulf but never succumbs to cheap romance or idle folly. The mysterious cultivation of friendship between Fidelma and Eadulf gives the most personal view of the protagonist(s).

The multiple murders keep you guessing to the end. The story picks up speed in the last half and is indeed VERY HARD TO PUT DOWN!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Relive the glory of the ancient Celts on the hand of Fidelma, July 16, 2003

By 

Karina A. Suarez "Karina A. Fogliani-Ahmed" (Walt Disney World, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Absolution by Murder (A Sister Fidelma Mystery) (Mystery of Ancient Ireland) (Mass Market Paperback)

In the first Sister Fidelma mystery, writer Peter Ellis - writing under the pen name of Peter Tremayne - takes us on a fantastic and memorable journey to the time of the rivalries between the ancient Celt and Saxon tribes of England. The mystery is set against the historical background of the debate between the Celtic and Roman Church factions at Whitby back in AD 664. Oswy, the current King of Northumbria, has called this big assembly at Streoneshalh Abbey, a place directed by his cousin, the Abbess Hilda. Important representatives and religieuses from all over Ireland, Britain and Rome are arriving at the Abbey with the purpose of determining once and for all which Church the Kingdom of Northumbria will follow. Sister Fidelma, an advocate of the courts of Ireland, is also in attendance. When she arrives, she meets with her long time friend, Abbess Étain of Kildare. Known for her culture and eloquence, she is to be the opener speaker for the Celtic faction. However, when the debate opens, Abbess Étain's seat is empty. A few moments later, she is found dead in her cubiculum, her throat slashed. It is immediately suspected that the opposition would be the culprit, but is it? And more importantly, how to prove it?

The King of Northumbria, on learning about Fidelma's position as a dálaigh of the Irish Courts, urges her to bring the murderer to justice. Since rumours are already starting to circulate, no time is to be lost. The country is on the brink of Civil War. Fidelma agrees, and in so doing she accepts the condition imposed by the King of having the crime investigated in conjunction with a representative of the Roman faction, a Saxon by the name of Brother Eadulf. Thus forms one of the most famous partnerships in history for the purpose of solving crimes. Fidelma and Eadulf, even though at first they resent each other, grow attached to one another in the end. They feel a great affinity and are a perfect match. As the Manchester Evening News put it, Sister Fidelma is "quite a girl." Eadulf is delighted in his task of a companion who offers support, but is clearly Fidelma who decides on the best course of action. The pair work smoothly together and, in the end, they both realize how much one supported the other.

The historical setting, the descriptions of the Abbey and the customs of the period deserve a mention of their own. Ellis is a scholar of the period, having written numerous volumes about the ancient Celts, the Druids and other early tribes; and one can tell he knows his task as if he had actually lived in the period. I found fascinating the fact that in the ancient Irish Church celibacy was not contemplated, or that women in ancient Ireland had as many possibilities to hold a Public Office rank as men. Also unlike nowadays, a Public position was based on merit, not heredity.

This is a most promising series that I would like to see made into a mini-series of some sort in the future, such as Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael. There's a lot of detail and material to cover, and I cannot wait for the second installment, where, as per the end of this one, Sister Fidelma finds herself fortuitously on her road to Rome... accompanying Brother Eadulf's party.