As the leading churchmen and women gather at the Synod of Whitby in 664AD 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. As an advocate of the Brehon Court, she is called on to investigate the murder with Brother Eadulf, of the Roman faction. However, the two are so unlike that their partnership is described as that of a wolf and a fox - but which is which?
More gruesome deaths follow and the friction among the clerics could end in civil war. Can the solution to the mysteries avert such a conflict?
Absolution by Murder
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About the Author
Peter Tremayne is the fiction pseudonym of a well-known authority on the ancient Celts, who has utilised his knowledge of the Brehon law system and 7th-Century Irish society to create a new concept in detective fiction.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is one of the most addictive I've read. Peter Tremayne's knowledge of the Celtic world has allowed him to create a set of characters which are extremely vivid and life-like. By mixing in historical characters such as King Oswy of Northumbria, and by setting it during the Synod of Whitby, his story becomes even more realistic. The plot is as exciting as it is historically detailed. In 664 AD at the Synod of Whitby reprentatives of the Roman and Celtic churches met to decide if the North of England should follow the rule of Rome or Columba (the Celtic church). Before the debate starts the main speaker of the Celtic church is murderd. Suspicion falls on the Roman faction, but is it that simeple? Fidelma thinks not. Another murder follows and it looks like it's been solved, but then another murder is committed and Fidelma must finally confront the killer in true 'Agatha Christie drawing-room' style. I could tell you the whole plot, but I won't - GO BUY THIS BOOK!! Highly recommended. Keep up the good work Mr Tremayne.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By J. Chippindale
TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback
The author Peter Tremayne obviously has a great knowledge of Ireland in the 7th century and also on Irish Law. His Sister Fidelma book are attracting what can only be described as a cult following, but they are of interest to anyone who likes historical novels or mysteries. This series of books are set in Ireland in the 7th century, a time when there was total equality for women. The lead character is the beguiling Sister Fidelma. She is a brilliant scholar, a leading authority on Irish law and the sister of a king.
Sister Fidelma is attending an ecclesiastical conclave at Whitby in the year 664. While she is there a major proponent of the Celtic way of religion is murdered. Fidelma a fellow follower of the Celtic way is asked to investigate. She is paired with the ideological opposite, Brother Eadulf on the Roman side. Eadulf is shrewd well educated and smitten with the sister.
In an age before celibacy had become a part of religious life, intellectual and physical sparks fly between the two clerics and when two monks are also killed the plot thickens . . .
Sister Fidelma is attending an ecclesiastical conclave at Whitby in the year 664. While she is there a major proponent of the Celtic way of religion is murdered. Fidelma a fellow follower of the Celtic way is asked to investigate. She is paired with the ideological opposite, Brother Eadulf on the Roman side. Eadulf is shrewd well educated and smitten with the sister.
In an age before celibacy had become a part of religious life, intellectual and physical sparks fly between the two clerics and when two monks are also killed the plot thickens . . .
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
In Sister Fidelma Peter Tremayne has created a serious rival for Cadfael's crown ! As one would expect from the pen-name of one of Britain's foremost scholars of the Celtic period, the setting and period details are simply breathtaking in their accuracy and vividness. In the first full-length novel featuring Fidelma, the plot concerns the pivitol Synod of Whitby and the ongoing debate between the Celtic and Roman branches of Christianity, with dark murder and mayhem stalking the synod attendees. It is particularly refreshing to see a fully rounded character in Fidelma, not simply a cypher for the resolution for the mystery. Read this and you will certainly want to read the rest of the excellent series.
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3.4 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars
How does a book this bad ever get published...
...let alone become the first of a series which apparently confers some prestigious positions and awards upon its author? How do I hate thee? Let me count the ways. Read more
Published 2 months ago by S Sims
4.0 out of 5 stars
Really enjoyed!
Really enjoyed reading the first of this series (had recently picked up a much later one). Interesting times historically as well as a well-written novel.
Published 2 months ago by Bronwen Dove
5.0 out of 5 stars
Where is Whitby
This is the first adventure in which I met the intrepid double act. They are called to solve a murder at a church synod in Whitby - I know I had to look it up. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Marlene
1.0 out of 5 stars
a truly awful read
This is one of the most truly awful books I have read. The writing is both pretentious and tedious and predictable. Read more
Published 14 months ago by syrinx
5.0 out of 5 stars
Murder in 7th century Ireland
The author Peter Tremayne obviously has a great knowledge of Ireland in the 7th century and also on Irish Law. Read more
Published on 13 Jun 2007 by J. Chippindale
4.0 out of 5 stars
Real flavour of the times
Tremayne is undoubtedly brave in setting such a well-trodden genre as the detective novel in a period which we know so little about, but his huge breadth of knowledge on 7th... Read more
Published on 23 Nov 1999
4.0 out of 5 stars
In 664 AD,Sr.Fidelma and Br.Eadulf must investigate a murder
In 664 AD,a synod is held at Whitby.At stake is the fate of the Christian church in Britain;whether the Celtic church will be allowed,or only the Roman rite. Read more
Published on 3 Jan 1999
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