Blood in Eden

by Peter Tremayne

Overview

An outsider's life hangs in the balance when Sister Fidelma decides she must intervene to expose the real culprit behind the horrific slaughter of a local family.

Ireland, AD 671. The hamlet of Cloichín is said to be a veritable Eden, with its prosperous farms and close-knit, friendly community. But after a local farmer, his wife and two sons are murdered, a fanatical new priest orders the villagers to lynch the man accused of the crime. The only evidence they hold against him is the fact that he is a stranger to their land. Searching for accommodation on their journey home to Cashel, Sister Fidelma and Brother Eadulf arrive at Cloichín just in time to save the man's life. Fidelma is determined that the villagers must give the newcomer a fair trial. But there is to be more bloodshed in Eden and more lives will be lost.
Danger and mayhem disrupt this once sleepy and trusting hamlet. In this vivid portrayal of a medieval time, the webs of intrigue begin to unravel, friends become enemies, and no one knows who to trust....

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781780296333
Publisher:	Severn House
Publication date:	10/06/2020
Series:	A Sister Fidelma Mystery , #30
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	203,397
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Peter Tremayne is the 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. He is the author of 29 previous Sister Fidelma mysteries.

Editorial Reviews

06/24/2019

Set in 672 C.E., Tremayne’s gripping 30th whodunit featuring Irish investigative magistrate Fidelma (after 2018’s Bloodmoon) explores the religious and social tensions of its time when, as an author’s note indicates, “New concepts of Christianity being brought in from Rome resulted in conflicts and confusion as ideas on issues such as property ownership and inheritance began to be influenced.” Amid growing threats to the status quo, Fidelma and her husband, Eadulf, arrive just in time to prevent the angry villagers of Cloichín from hanging Celgaire, an itinerant worker they believed killed Adnan, a farmer who refused to hire Celgaire, and Adnan’s family. Brother Gadra, a priest who stirred up the villagers, doesn’t recognize the authority of what he terms Fidelma’s “pagan law.” Finding the evidence against Celgaire thin, she investigates and soon discovers that Adnan, his wife, and their two sons weren’t all murdered with the same weapon—and that others had better reason to wish Adnan dead. Tremayne carefully builds the suspense. Series fans won’t be disappointed. Agent: Euan Thorneycroft, A.M. Heath (U.K.). (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

"Superb... Tremayne does a masterful job of integrating the religious and political history of medieval Ireland into a superior whodunit. Though set in the seventh century, this cautionary tale of fear and revenge will resonate with readers grappling with contemporary versions of paranoia and xenophobia"

Booklist

"Superb... Tremayne does a masterful job of integrating the religious and political history of medieval Ireland into a superior whodunit. Though set in the seventh century, this cautionary tale of fear and revenge will resonate with readers grappling with contemporary versions of paranoia and xenophobia"

Booklist