Showing results by author "Peter Tremayne" in All Categories

In the mid-7th century AD, the Venerable Dacán, a much respected and beloved scholar of the Celtic Church, has been found murdered while on a visit to a remote abbey in the Irish Kingdom of Muman. When Dacán's foul death is used by a neighbouring kingdom to demand reparation from Muman, bloody war seems imminent. Summoned by Muman's dying king to investigate, Sister Fidelma is asked to solve the mystery of the brutal killing and by doing so to prevent the inevitable war breaking out between the two opposing kingdoms.

As the leading churchmen and women gather at the Synod of Whitby in AD 664 to debate the rival merits of the Celtic and Roman Churches, tempers begin to fray. Conspirators plot an assassination, while mysterious, violent death stalks the shadowy cloisters of the Abbey of St Hilda. When the Abbess Etain, a leading speaker for the Celtic Church, is found murdered, suspicion inevitably rests on the Roman faction. Attending the Synod is Fidelma, of the community of St Brigid of Kildare.

Hemlock at Vespers is Peter Tremayne's anthology of Celtic mysteries featuring the ever-popular 7th-century super-sleuth Sister Fidelma. Sister Fidelma originally made her debut as one of the decade's most interesting sleuths in short story form. The sharp-witted and astonishingly wise religieuse captured the hearts of many as she successfully tackled the most baffling of crimes in her other role as advocate of the law courts of Ireland, using the ancient Brehon Law system.

Sister Fidelma is thrown into a sinister mystery full of intrigue, danger and violence in Peter Tremayne's fourth Celtic mystery. A headless female corpse is found in the drinking well of a remote abbey in southwest Ireland. One hand clasps a crucifix; tied to the other arm is a pagan death symbol. A merchant ship is encountered under full sail on the high seas off the Irish coast. But the crew and cargo have vanished - as if by sorcery. Whose is the body in the well? Where is the crew of the vessel? Are these bizarre events connected? And if so, who is responsible?

On a storm-driven night, wreckers drive a ship onto rocks off the coast of Ireland. An Abbess leading a pilgrimage is killed and the young religieuse with her abducted. An aging scholar is murdered in the Abbey of Ard Fhearta. Do these events have a connection? Sister Fidelma and Brother Eadulf go to Ard Fhearta to examine the mystery. But the abbey stands in the territory of the Uí Fidgente, enemies of Fidelma and her brother, the King of Cashel, and danger threatens Fidelma and Eadulf from the moment of their arrival. What is the link that connects the crimes?

Arriving home from a pilgrim voyage, Sister Fidelma hears that her faithful Saxon companion, Brother Eadulf, is under sentence of death for murder. She hastens to the capital of Laigin, where he is being held, determined to appeal against the sentence. The crime took place at the abbey of Fearna, where Fidelma clashes with the sinister Abbess Fainder. The evidence against Eadulf seems overwhelming - can he actually be guilty? Will Fidelma's emotional involvement blind her in her desperate search for the truth?

When Sister Fidelma sets out on a pilgrimage in the autumn of AD 666, her main preoccupation is to reflect on her commitment to the religious life and her relationship with the Saxon monk, Eadulf, whom she has left behind. Complications arise during the first night on the ship when one of the pilgrims is apparently washed overboard. The discovery of a blood-stained robe raises the question of murder, and Fidelma finds herself having to focus all her abilities on solving the mystery.

AD 670. An Irish merchant ship is attacked by a pirate vessel off the coast of the Breton peninsular. Murchad, the captain, and a prince from the kingdom of Muman are killed in cold blood after they have surrendered. Among the other passengers who manage to escape the slaughter are Sister Fidelma of Cashel and her faithful companion, Brother Eadulf. The prince was Fidelma's cousin, and she is determined to bring the killers to justice....

When Sechnussach, High King of Ireland, is found dead in his bedchamber with his throat cut, all clues seem to suggest an all-too-obvious prime suspect. Dubh Duin, the chieftain of the clan Cinél Cairpre, was found with the murder weapon in his hand when the High King's guards entered the royal chamber, before taking his own life. The Chief Brehon of Ireland asks Sister Fidelma to investigate and find out what possible motives could have driven Dubh Duin to assassinate the High King.

It is AD 670, and Bishop Leodegar has called the church leaders together for an emergency meeting. But a fierce row breaks out, and the assembly descends into chaos. Later that evening one of the delegates is discovered murdered, his skull brutally smashed. Sister Fidelma and her companion, Brother Eadulf, unwittingly find themselves in the middle of a shocking murder investigation involving the most powerful religious leaders in the land. The disappearance of women and children and rumours of a slave trade indicate malevolent forces at work.

Ebert is not a man to make enemies. He is a chieftain with a reputation for kindliness and generosity. Yet, one night, his household is aroused by a scream from his chamber. The servants burst in to find Móen, a young man to whom Eber had extended his protection, crouched over the bloody body of the chieftain. Móen's clothes are drenched in Eber's blood, and he is clutching a bloodstained knife in his hand.There seems no doubt of culpability, but why did Móen kill the gentle and courteous Eber?

Sister Fidelma has been sent by her brother, king of Cashel, to Laisre, chieftain of Gleann Geis - the 'forbidden valley' - to negotiate permission to build a Christian church and school in his territory, replacing the pagan Druidic sanctuaries. Laisre is known to be hostile to the new religion, and Fidelma knows her mission will be no easy task. Entering Gleann Geis with the Saxon Brother Eadulf, she comes across the naked, slain bodies of thirty-three young men, positioned in a sunwise circle.

A servant has been murdered and the baby in her charge abducted. Fidelma of Cashel has solved even more horrendous crimes in her career as an advocate of the ancient Brehon Courts of Ireland. But this case is different. For both Sister Fidelma and her companion, Brother Eadulf of Saxmund's Ham, the case is unique because of the personal emotions involved. The baby who has been abducted is their own son. What is the motive for their crime? Could someone seeking vengeance on Fidelma and Eadulf have done the deed? They have made a lot of enemies in their pursuit of justice.

The Abbey of Imleach, in the southwest Irish kingdom of Muman, now rivals Armagh as the centre of the faith in Ireland. For the founder of the abbey was none other than St Ailbe, the man who brought Christianity to Muman, converted its king and baptised him at Cashel in AD448. But now, calamity has struck the community of the abbey. Not only has an elderly monk suddenly disappeared, but the holy relics of St Ailbe have also vanished. These sacred relics are not just the concern of the abbey's community but are a priceless icon and political symbol of the entire kingdom....

It is the early 1600s and the City of London sees Queen Elizabeth living out her dying days as Scottish King James waits in the wings to take to the throne. Meanwhile, in Southwark, along the south bank of the River Thames, Master Hardy Drew, Constable of the Bankside Watch, maintains law and order amongst the cut-throats and smugglers, in the taverns and brothels, as well as with the gentlefolk, who flock across the river to enjoy the latest plays by Shakespeare and Jonson.

February, AD 668, and Cashel is full of distinguished visitors. Under the old Irish custom, Fidelma of Cashel and Eadulf of Seaxmund's Ham, having been joined together for a year and a day, are to be married. But on the eve of the ceremony, the pious Abbot Ultán is found murdered in his chamber. Worse still - one of the most distinguished guests, the King of Connacht, is seen fleeing from the scene and charged with the murder. He demands his right to appoint Fidelma in his defence.

Super sleuth Sister Fidelma returns in Smoke in the Wind, the 11th perplexing historical mystery by Peter Tremayne. Sister Fidelma and her companion, Brother Eadulf, are on their way to visit the new Archbishop of Canterbury when their ship is blown off course and they land on the coast of the Welsh kingdom of Dyfed.

When the body of a murdered young noble is discovered not far from Cashel, the King calls upon Sister Fildema and her companion Eadulf to investigate. The only clue to the noble's identity is an emblem originating from the nearby kingdom of Laign. Could the murder be somehow related to the violence erupting in the west of the kingdom? The turmoil is led by a fanatical figure claiming to have been summoned by 'the seventh angel' to remove the 'impure of faith' from the land, and Fidelma and Eadulf soon find themselves struggling with a tangled skein of murder and intrigue.

Ireland. AD 672. The Feast of Beltaine is approaching, and the seven senior princes of the kingdom of Muman are gathering at Cashel to discuss King Colgú's policies. Just days before the council meets, Brother Conchobhar, the keeper of the sacred sword, is found murdered. Sister Fidelma and her brother, Colgú, fear that the killer had been trying to steal the sword that symbolises the king's authority to rule.

The thirty-fourth mystery in Peter Tremayne's long-standing and much-loved series, Revenge of the Stormbringer features 7th-century Irish super-sleuth Sister Fidelma.