Tremayne’s mastery of period detail and his strong depictions of Sister Fidelma and Brother Eadulf draw the reader in, although the secondary characters sometimes seem flat and stereotypical. During the unfolding inquiry, they develop mutual respect and the foundation for a lasting bond. In a time before celibacy is the accepted path of the Church’s clergy, the two clerics nevertheless struggle against a strong physical attraction, clash in their canonical and cultural differences, yet strike a complementary balance in their enforced intellectual partnership. In the ensuing effort to unmask and stop a cold-blooded killer, Sister Fidelma is paired with Brother Eadulf, a Saxon follower of the Roman tradition. When the Abbess of Kildare, Fidelma’s mentor and chief representative of the Celtic tradition, is murdered immediately before her scheduled oration, Fidelma is called upon in her role as a renowned dalaigh (legal scholar and Irish advocate for the courts). Peter Tremayne is a pen name of Celtic scholar Peter Berresford Ellis, who also writes nonfiction history books, and this mystery series showcases the traditions, legal system, and cultural history of this Celtic people.įidelma, sister to an Irish king, is a feisty and independent Irish nun who attends the historical conclave at Whitby in 664, a formal debate intended to settle major doctrinal differences between the Celtic and Roman Churches. Absolution by Murder is the book that launched Peter Tremayne’s Sister Fidelma mystery series, set in seventh-century Ireland.

Absolution by murder peter tremayne