Customer Reviews

The Leper's Bell (Sister Fidelma Mysteries)

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In the seventh century, dalieh Sister Fidelma of Cashel, travels around Eire as an advocate of the law courts accompanied by her lover and trial marriage partner Brother Eadulf of Seaxmund's Ham. After their current trek in which they left their young son home with his competent nurse Sarat, they return home to tragedy. Sarat has been murdered and their child is missing, probably kidnapped, but no ransom or any message has been delivered by the perpetrators.

Fidelma's brother King Colgu of Muman is irate over the abduction of his nephew. He meets with his advisers and Eadulf on how to proceed. All agree on one thing not to allow the normally logical Fidelma to investigate especially since she holds herself culpable for going on her last assignment while leaving her child behind. However, Fidelma remains determined to get involved regardless of the commands from her brother the king and her spouse.

Peter Tremayne refreshes the delightful long running medieval who-done-it by bringing the case home and making it personal for the normally rational Fidlema. However, this time she must keep calm in order to follow the clues to rescue her beloved son even though her brother and husband think she is incapable of performing such a detached investigation. The Leper's Bell is Peter Tremayne at his very best (which is incredible).

Harriet Klausner

I have been reading this series for quite awhile, and it is too long between stories. In this book, the action timeline is right after the last book "Badger's Moon". Fidelma and Eadulf are back in Cashel, and their infant son is kidnapped. His nurse has been found murdered and the baby is murdered. Fidelma and Eadulf are in a frantic search for little Alchu. Their search takes them in different directions, each following a lead, and both end up in some danger. The atmosphere and the plotting are as meticulous as always in this series. Tremayne paints a very realistic picture of life at this time in Ireland. If you haven't read this series, and you are a fan of historical mysteries, then I highly recommend that you begin at the beginning and follow Fidelma and Eadulf through their world. One good thing about living in Canada, we get the release of some of these British authors a little earlier, so I read this book back in March and kept my review so that I could post it when it came available on Amazon.

This fascinating series of the history of Ireland and it's orderly, fair ancient laws combined with mystery, adventure and a romantic duo has kept me intrigued for years. The Leper's Bell takes Fidelma and Eadulf into a new relationship and Fidelma begins to question her priorities, her allegiances and her ambivalence to motherhood. While the mystery in this book leads us down intriguing paths, it is easy to see where the real villian resides. No matter. It's not so much the mystery that ensnares the loyal Fidelma reader in this book as it is the way Tremayne weaves history, law, travelogue and romance.

As usual, Peter Tremayne kept me guessing until the end of the story, while managing to really bring out all the characters in the plot. I recommend the entire Sister Fedelma series to anyone who likes a personal story with a nice dose of history, especially the Celtic kind!

The Leper's Bell is one of the best of the overall excellent Sister Fidelma mysteries. It is quite different from most of the series because Fidelma and Eadulf are personally involved in the mystery instead of just being the investigating dalaigh and her companion. The change is quite enjoyable because you get to see the main characters change and grow a bit more than can normally be seen. The mystery itself is also interesting and, as usual, Peter Tremayne's helps us glimpse more of the Early Medieval Irish world that he makes so real and fascinating.

While the Sister Fidelma series does not have to be read in series order, I do recommend it. I clearly skipped some major biographical details between Leper's Bell and the last one I read, and it detached me from the main character more than if this has been my first Sister Fidelma book.
I'd also recommend ignoring the list of "Principal Characters" that prefaces the book, unless you want some clues very early on in the story. That said, Tremayne is masterful enough to throw a curve ball just when you think you've figured it out.
In a way, this particular book seems more a Brother Eadulf mystery than a Sister Fidelma mystery, as we are given much more insight into his character and he propels the plot forward. Fidelma is weakened by the tragic kidnapping of her own son, but Eadulf is at odds with seemingly just about everyone as he is an outsider, a Saxon. Tremayne tries to use these weaknesses to develop his characters, but there is something missing, particularly when it comes to Fidelma. We never actually see her during her time of mourning, but instead only hear of it from Eadulf. When she does appear, she is the stoic, logical Sister Fidelma of the series, but given the story line, she seems mismatched. She wonders (somewhat obtusely) about the fiery outbursts of Eadulf and has only glimmers of introspection at her own excessive reliance upon logic.
That aside, the book is full of intrigue, duplicity, and all the other essential ingredients of a good mystery. Readers familiar with the series may find the religious-political historical commentary a bit redundant, but in this book we get a better glimpse of Eadulf's theology, rather than Fidelma's. In that sense, this is one of the more engaging books in the series, as Brother Eadulf's religious views challenge some of Sister Fidelma's, making for much more interesting interaction between the characters.

This book arrived in a very timely manner. The condition of the book was better than expected -in excellent condition. The larger size of the book was great - especially for those of us who have to pack our books and take them with us to steel spare minutes here and there for a favorite pastime. As for the book itself, those who are fans of Sister Fidelma will not be disappointed. Great experience and great book!

In 7th century Ireland, Sister Fidelma has returned to her brother's castle in Muman (Munster) to find her baby stolen and the nurse found murdered. Her Saxon Husband, Brother Eadulf, is helping her to find the killer of the nurse, and the baby at the same time.

I found this book extremely good and at times amazing, however this was from a historical viewpoint. The author is at pains to explain what things are and how they happen to be structured like they are. The intricacies of how the judicial system worked, the burials, the culture and so on are painstakingly described in conversations between characters. However, while this explains why things are as they are, I found it at times dull to read characters talking about things they would not talk about under normal circumstances, the author using them as a tool to explain why things were as they were.

The mystery was reasonably good. I found Sister Fidelma strained. The story is most often told from the viewpoint of Eadulf, a saxon outsider and her temporary husband - and much easier character to relate to and feel affection for.

I think I would have to read more of these to really know if I liked them or not, but it was certainly a reasonably good general read, which I enjoyed. I just really don't know if I would enjoy more of the same.

I love this series, even though Sister Fidelma is rather crusty and reactive. In this one, she does a good bit of soul searching, and Eadulf does a lot of the sleuth work. A nice balance.