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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good read, December 6, 2006
This review is from: Master of Souls: A Mystery of Ancient Ireland (Sister Fidelma Mysteries) (Hardcover)
Tremayne is actually Peter Berresford Ellis, Celtic scholar, and this is his 16th Sister Fidelma mystery.
It is 668 AD, and Fidelma and her husband Eadulf must travel to the far west of Ireland to help solve the murder of Abbess Faife and the kidnapping of six novices. The political situation could be very unstable, as peace has recently been reached with the Ui Fidgente, the warlords of the area. Fidelma's skills as an investigator, her rank as a dalaigh, a sort of ancient legal advocate, and her knowledge as a scholar will be needed desperately.
Once they arrive at Fhearta Abbey, they discover that the scholar Cinaed has been killed--struck down in the chapel.
Was Cinaed killed for his views on marriage among the religious? His views on the trinity? Or was it something he had discovered and written about recently--all his writings are burned shortly after they arrive. Jealousy may be the cause (his wife and mistress hate each other); and other scholars resent his standing and influence, while deploring his views.
A shipwreck on the coast also figures into the story, as does gold hidden in the ruins of a rebel tower, a sly and duplicitous local warlord, and the "ghost" of a dead rebel, Uaman, who seems to be leading a nasty band of warriors. Fidelma is able to unravel the many strands of this mystery and show how all these are related, and discover who really is the "ghost" and responsible for the many deaths.
Tremayne is able to create seventh century religious life in a Celtic abbey with careful precision and lifelike characters.
Armchair Interviews says: You will truly be swept away into the past.
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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
brilliant Sister Fidelma who done it, November 17, 2006
This review is from: Master of Souls: A Mystery of Ancient Ireland (Sister Fidelma Mysteries) (Hardcover)
The Ui Fidgente and the Eoghanacht of Cashel have been at war for centuries until the battle at Cnoc Aine when the Ui Fidgente leader was killed. He was replaced by Donennach who pledged fealty to the King of Muman because he wanted peace for his people. In the territory of the Ui Fidgente, a member of the abbey Ard Fhearta was bludgeoned; at almost the same time, six religious from the abbey along with Abbess Faife are making a pilgrimage when they meet a battered sick man.
He tells them that he was the victim of wreckers who deliberately destroyed his ship on the rocks during a storm and killed his men and stole his cargo. They give him the clothes of a religious to wear and while he is changing, brigands kill the abbess and takes the religious hostage. Ui Fidgente warlord Conri asks Sister Fidelma to help figure out the mystery while her brother orders her to do so in order to cement relations with their former enemies. Fidelma is accompanied by Brother Eodulf, who wanted to stay at Cashel with their son and get ready for their binding wedding but knows that he must help her in her inquiries. When they come close to getting some answers, Sister Fidelma's life is in jeopardy.
Peter Tremayne writes some of the best historical mysteries due in part to his heroine, a woman living in an enlightened country when the rest of Europe is going through the dark ages. Her abilities as a dalaigh, an officer of the law courts, and her role as the sister of a king makes her a very powerful woman. The mystery is impossible to figure out as is the link between the death of the Venerable Cinaed and the disappearance of the six religious. Even the heroine claims this is the hardest case she ever worked on. MASTER OF SOULS is another brilliant Sister Fidelma who done it.
Harriet Klausner
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9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An easy medieval history lesson, November 21, 2006
This review is from: Master of Souls: A Mystery of Ancient Ireland (Sister Fidelma Mysteries) (Hardcover)
If you're already a Sister Fidelma fan, I only need to tell you that this is another good one.
If the good sister-lawyer-noblewoman is new to you, ask yourself this: Could you be tempted by a superbly written medieval mystery that painlessly lays out the advanced culture of the Ireland of the 7th century while presenting a magnificent page-turner?
I have to admit that I love fiction written by genuine historical experts who enjoy making their period come alive by fictionalizing it. The Sister Fidelma books are a great example of that.
The most recent volume is a treasure.
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