In my previous posting, I reviewed A Wicked Deed by Susanna Gregory, another historical mystery novelist. In it, I mentioned how Gregory taught the reader about fourteenth century monastic life, alchemical recipes and business transactions for universities. Peter Tremayne does the exact same thing in his Sister Fidelma series set in ancient Ireland, giving the reader interesting insights into that culture in the mid-seventh century. I’ve enjoyed this series ever since reading a Sister Fidelma short story years ago. Tremayne weaves sinister plots with vibrant characters in the beautiful backdrop of Ireland.
In Smoke In The Wind, Tremayne takes Sister Fidelma and her ever-present companion Brother Eadulf into the land of the Britons. The Britons and the Saxons have a very bloody history but have enjoyed an extended period of peace, however tenuous. But Brother Eadulf is uncomfortable because he is a Saxon, and although there is no war between the peoples, some still have axes to grind. Nevertheless, he ventures deeper into the country to follow Fidelma who has been asked by a provincial king to investigate the mysterious disappearance of twenty-seven brothers from a monastery in his realm. And Eadulf knows that she will not back down from a mystery.
On their way to the monastery, they accompany Brother Meurig who is the Briton equivalent to Fidelma’s rank of dalaigh. He has been charged by the same king to investigate the murder of a young woman in a nearby village. Accused of her murder is a young shepherd whose guilt seems to have been determined by the villagers’ opinions. It isn’t long before Fidelma suspects that the two incidents are somehow connected.
Tremayne ramps up the action in Smoke In The Wind. Fidelma and Eadulf have oftentimes found themselves on the wrong side of a bow and arrow, but this is the first time that she is nearly raped by a captor. Fortunately, the cunning Eadulf manages to prevent Fidelma from being taken, but not before an exciting, white-knuckle page-turning scene that keeps the reader on the edge of the seat.
There were a couple of aspects of the novel that diminished its enjoyability but only by a small amount. First, there were too many scenes where Eadulf is about to speak but Fidelma stops him with a look or a gesture. The poor brother is hen-pecked and they aren’t even married. It’s not the notion of her keeping him in mental submission because she is in control of the conversation, but the frequency in which it happens.
Second, in the pre-Gutenburg Press era, everyone in the novel except for the villagers seems to be well-educated and knowledgeable of events two hundred years prior to the time of the novel. Perhaps the clergy and royalty were more educated than I previously surmised from other historical whodunits, but they seemed politically savvy as well.
Nonetheless, Smoke In The Wind is an action-thriller/mystery/history book that is enjoyable and entertaining. Very difficult to put down.
In Smoke In The Wind, Tremayne takes Sister Fidelma and her ever-present companion Brother Eadulf into the land of the Britons. The Britons and the Saxons have a very bloody history but have enjoyed an extended period of peace, however tenuous. But Brother Eadulf is uncomfortable because he is a Saxon, and although there is no war between the peoples, some still have axes to grind. Nevertheless, he ventures deeper into the country to follow Fidelma who has been asked by a provincial king to investigate the mysterious disappearance of twenty-seven brothers from a monastery in his realm. And Eadulf knows that she will not back down from a mystery.
On their way to the monastery, they accompany Brother Meurig who is the Briton equivalent to Fidelma’s rank of dalaigh. He has been charged by the same king to investigate the murder of a young woman in a nearby village. Accused of her murder is a young shepherd whose guilt seems to have been determined by the villagers’ opinions. It isn’t long before Fidelma suspects that the two incidents are somehow connected.
Tremayne ramps up the action in Smoke In The Wind. Fidelma and Eadulf have oftentimes found themselves on the wrong side of a bow and arrow, but this is the first time that she is nearly raped by a captor. Fortunately, the cunning Eadulf manages to prevent Fidelma from being taken, but not before an exciting, white-knuckle page-turning scene that keeps the reader on the edge of the seat.
There were a couple of aspects of the novel that diminished its enjoyability but only by a small amount. First, there were too many scenes where Eadulf is about to speak but Fidelma stops him with a look or a gesture. The poor brother is hen-pecked and they aren’t even married. It’s not the notion of her keeping him in mental submission because she is in control of the conversation, but the frequency in which it happens.
Second, in the pre-Gutenburg Press era, everyone in the novel except for the villagers seems to be well-educated and knowledgeable of events two hundred years prior to the time of the novel. Perhaps the clergy and royalty were more educated than I previously surmised from other historical whodunits, but they seemed politically savvy as well.
Nonetheless, Smoke In The Wind is an action-thriller/mystery/history book that is enjoyable and entertaining. Very difficult to put down.
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