Customer Reviews

Spiders Web (Sister Fidelma Mysteries 05)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Peter Tremayne presents us with an admirable protagonist in the figure of Sister Fidelma, a nun as well as an officer of the ancient Irish courts. Tremayne's didactic purpose becomes somewhat tiresome in the narrative, as Sister Fidelma repeatedly stops to explain Irish custom and law to Brother Edulf, her sidekick from England. However, The Spider's Web ultimately succeeds in presenting us with an interesting mystery set in a land more foreign than any of us could ever hope to find.

As the plot unfolds, the reader meets a fascinating cast of characters who live in seventh-century Ireland. In Tremayne's picture, this was a cultured, ordered society with many virtues that we would love to have in our world. Equal rights for women is a given, as is protection for those who are infirm or disabled. Succession was based on merit, not on mere order of birth. Christianity as practiced by these Irish was an embracing, accepting creed miles away from Augustine's influence. This is the genteel time we encounter, and it is not dark at all.

Yet, even in this wonderful society there is plenty of malfeasance and treachery. In this tale, we follow Sister Fidelma as she investigates a murder in the Irish countryside. As the plot unfolds, prejudices are cast aside and the only certain thing is that the truth is not obvious.

I enjoyed reading this book and learning a bit about how ancient Ireland might have been. We are fortunate to have a guide to a land that many of us never before knew existed.

I hope that there will be many more mysteries for Sister Fidelma to investigate, and I will go along for the ride each time.

In the middle of seventh century Ireland, King Colgu sends his sibling, Sister Fidelma, to Araglin to investigate the murder of the local chieftain Eber. A witness saw Moen, a deaf mute, holding the murder weapon, a knife, near the corpse. Also killed is Eber's sister Teafa.

Fidelma accompanied by Brother Eadulf travel to the crime scene. They quickly learn that the villagers believe Moen killed the two victims in a fit of rage. Fidelma has problems with that theory because the two deceased showed kindness towards the prime suspect. Teafa raised Moen as if he was her child. The two sleuths begin to wonder who had motives and would most benefit by the deaths of Eber and Teafa. However, no one seems to want to cooperate. Disruptions, sometimes nearly fatal, appears to be the prime intent of the townsfolk. Still, Fidelma and Eadulf continue to search for the killer.

SPIDER'S WEB, the fifth Sister Fidelma novel, is an engaging Celtic mystery. The story line is very intriguing when tidbits of seventh century Irish culture are presented and fully woven into the plot. Fidelma is a fully developed character, whose motives center on her religion and her belief in justice as expected of an advocate of the law courts. The villagers seem a bit thin, but fans of historical mysteries will receive enjoyment from Peter Tremayne's entire series.

Harriet Klausner

This is the fifth Sister Fidelma book I have read, and the highest complement I can pay Peter Tremayne is that I've started reading my sixth. As a fan of medieval fantasy and Arthurian literature, I find the Sister Fidelma books right up my alley. Mr. Tremayne captures the spirit and essence of the times and turns them advantage in telling his tales. I truly feel I have been transported to 7th Century Ireland! Mr. Tremayne's other life as a Celtic historian and scholar gives these books a realism they might not otherwise have.

"The Spider's Web" continues in the vein of the previous novels. Sister Fidelma is called in as an advocate to ensure justice is done in the case of a murder. In the spirit of all great detective series', things are not what they seem. The good sister delves deeper and deeper into the web, this time, as in others, with her sidekick Brother Eaudulf. More often than not, Fidelma and Eaudulf make enemies as they draw closer and closer to the truth. The web grows curiouser and curiouser until the final denouement. Simple, not particularly original, but still effective! And the plot in this novel is indeed a tangled spider's web.

To pat myself on the back, I was able to solve this one on my own, before having it spelled out to me. But, am I ready to leave Florida to become a 7th Century Irish religious sleuth. I don't think so, but Sister Fidelma is the only person who could actually make me consider it!!

The Spiders Web finds Sister Fidelma and Brother Eadulf summoned to the valley of Araglin to investigate a double homicide. One courpse, that of the village chieftan is discovered with Araglin's deaf and mute citizen, Moen, standing over the body with a bloody knife. Upon arrival, Sister Fidelma soon realizes that the evidence does not add up to Moen being guilty of the murders. As Fidelma seeks to find the truth, more crimes are commited, and more dead bodies are found. Fidelma suspects the seeminly peaceful valley of Araglin to be brimming with secrets, lies, and deciet.

This novel set in Ireland in the year 666 has some very enjoyable qualities. The author's interpretation of ancient Ireland is intruging, stimulating, and thought provoking. His research goes beyond that of most historical novels, thus creating a world that has more than two dimensions. The mystery plot although fairly easy to decifer is enjoyable as well. However, the number of crimes and dead bodies that come into the picture as Fidelma investigates the initial murders is a bit over-done.

Tremayne's characterisations however, are not vivid or convincing. The character of Brother Eadulf is totally unbelievable. Eadulf is a high ranking Saxon monk, but his ability to find himself asking questions with obvious answers, in addition to his capability for putting himself and Fidelma in dangerious situations in unparalleled. Fidelma says that one reason she likes Eadulf is because of their ability to debate issues with each other on a friendly level. However, these so-called `debates' never come across like a debate at all. The interactions between Fidelma and Eadulf come across like Fidelma trying to teach a schoolboy a new concept, idea, or way of thinking. Eadulf rarely contributes anything worth debating in these conversations. He simply submits to Fidelma's supposed `higher plane' of thinking. Eadulfs constant lack of common sense is tiresome.

Fidelma herself could also use a bit of fine-tuning. She is supposed to be a strong-willed female heroine, but too often she comes across hotheaded and downright mean. Her interpretation of Christian theology is refreshing, but she often lacks tollerance of other interpretations and ideas. Too often female characters that are supposed to be strong roll models are writen as having cool demenors. Women do not have to be rude, brassy, and insensative to be strong willed. Unfortunately, Fidelma falls victum of these character traits without restraint.

Overall, The Siders Web makes for an interesting read, and escape into the year 666. The shortcomings of this book prevent it from being a great book, but still makes the series is worth exploring.

About my grading system: I interpret Amazon.com's five-star ranking system as follows: 1 star = far below standards, 2 stars = below standards, 3 stars = meets standards, 4 stars = exceeds standards, 5 stars = far exceeds standards.

Peter Tremayne in his book The Spider's Web continues his Sister Fidelma series set in seventh century Ireland. This series contains a great many details and insight into life at that time. Tremayne accurately describes life in a village, the belief system held and many of the prejudices of these villagers.

Fidelma is an astute sleuth and is relentless in her pursuit of the truth. She comes to life in this series. Tremayne describes her so well that you know her reactions to many situations.

While his books are bound by a formula it is one that I love and can read again and again. If you are a fan of medieval history, you will love this book.

If Sister Fidelma buttonholed me at a party I would probably chew my lapel off to escape. Not that I didn't like the book-- I did, but she is a relentless and single minded character. And poor Brother Eadulf the Saxon-- always having to play Watson to Fidelma's Sherlock Holmes.

In this book she gets to be Judge, Advocate, Forensic Pathologist, Botanist and an expert at unarmed combat. Eadulf, on the other hand, sort of follows along providing occasional backup.

While I'm not sure that I totally agree with Tremayne's view of 7th century Ireland, the books give a good view of a time and place not usually dealt with in light fiction. The homicide body count in Araglin is quite high, not to mention other assorted lesser crimes from cattle stealing to allowing your animals to trespass on a neighbor's land and defecate there (very disapproved of). But depend on Sister Fidelma to sort things out!

This was the first real mystery book that I had ever really read and liked. I found it verry informational in the law systme in ancient Ireland and a good mystery of which I have never truly had a taste for. It is about A brehon of the courts in Ireland, Sister Fidelma, And the saxon monk, Brother Eadulf. They are sent to the little and seemingly peacefull vilage of Araglin to investigate the seemingly obvious murder of the chief Eber and his sister Teafa. Every finger points to the blind, deaf and dumb Moen but Fidelma has the suspicion that Moen had been framed so with the help of Eadulf they unravel the secrets of the vilage to prove Moens inocents and find the real murder. I found this book amazingly well writen and I had fun trying to get ahead of the mystery before it was solved. Right after I read this book I went out looking for the other Sister Fidelma series and now I'm on the 2 book which is equally good.

This book comes early in the series (5th, I think). I hadn't been able to get my hands on a copy for years, so I was delighted to find this available (new, not used even!). As always, a great read for Sister Fidelma aficionados.

This is the first Sister Fidelma book I've read, and I must admit I enjoyed the "mystery" part of it, which is why I gave it a 3. However, several things disappointed me. While I appreciated learning so much about ancient Celtic law, its somewhat ponderous explanations given mostly by Sister Fidelma started getting annoying after a while. Secondly, I totally agree with the other reviewers that this appears to be Sherlock Holmes and Watson set in the Dark Ages.

But what I found totally amazing is that although the author appears to be an authority on Celtic customs and laws, his knowledge of Catholic religious customs appears to be extremely superficial. "He raised his hand to genuflect" was one sentence that appeared in perhaps slightly different forms over and over again. I puzzled over why on earth somebody would need to raise their hand to bend their knee???? It suddenly hit me half-way through the book that what Tremayne meant was not "genuflecting" but "crossing oneself", "blessing oneself", or "making the sign of the cross." "Genuflect" which comes from the French word "genou" means to bend the knee. Catholics (and I am sure ancient Celts as well) do not genuflect when they are afraid, superstitious, or speak of a dead person, such as "God rest his soul." They make the sign of the cross! To bless oneself, one has to "raise a hand." Genuflection is used only as a reverent gesture when passing by the altar inside a church. The sign of the cross dates from the beginning of Christianity.

It surprised me that when Fidelma and Eadulf pass by the beautiful tall granite cross, they discuss it like tourists, but neither of them even think of saying a prayer, which a religious surely would have. Also they neither genuflect or bless themselves when entering Father Gorman's church.

And why does everyone keep referring to the "New Faith" in 600 AD? Maybe the Celts meant that "Roman" Christianity was a "new" faith to them, but surely Eadulf would have said "Christianity" or "Catholics". Those terms were already in common use even before 600 AD. These two religious characters don't act very authentically. I don't mean that I wanted Fidelma to keep saying pious utterances, but surely if she is a nun and he is a monk, they had a Rule to follow - for example, say your morning prayers upon getting up in the morning, saying grace at meals, etc. After a while, those things become automatic. I find it hard to believe that they would discard them when they go a-sleuthing!

To use an example from a well-known author, Agatha Christie's detective, Miss Marple, is sharp as nails, and always guesses who the murderer is before anyone else does. But she still remains in character - a fluffy, fussy, sweet little old lady, which is what she is. Although she sometimes deliberately exaggerates those characteristics of hers in order to find out facts, she truly does love gossip and spying on her neighbors! Eadulf and Fidelma may be interesting sleuths, but I felt as if they are police disguised as religious!

Frankly, I got the impression that Fidelma and her sidekick were 21st century politically correct characters transported into the 7th century. Father Gorman is presented as a stereotype of what people biased against Catholicism think priest is like. He was totally unbelievable - a gross caricature of what Reformation Protestants used to frighten their children with.

I gave this a 3 for its entertainment value, but I would give it a 2 for the author's ignorance (and apparent bias against) of Catholicism, and getting mixed-up between genuflection and the sign of the cross.

This book has a fascinating premise, but the prose style does not do the subject matter justice. Sister Fidelma and her sidekick Brother Eadulf are almost exactly like Sherlock Holmes and Watson. Eadulf seems to exist solely to fall for every red herring the author lays out, and to give Fidelma a chance to pontificate on the superiority of Irish culture and law.

In this outing, she sets out to investigate the murder of a village chieftain. The primary suspect is a young man named Moen, who is blind and deaf. It's clear from the beginning that he has been framed, and much of the tension lies in Sister Fidelma's effort to exonerate him, but how can a person who can't speak testify in a court of law? It's an interesting premise, and the author has clearly done a lot of research on the time period, but unfortunately, the book is weighed down by an excruciatingly dull prose style. Every character speaks as if he or she is reading from a textbook, and the whole thing is about as lively as a diorama in a history museum.

Ancient Ireland rightly boasts not only of its legal system, but of its poetry. Why don't we see any trace of poetry in this book?