Shroud for the Archbishop (Sister Fidelma Series #2)

by Peter Tremayne

Overview

An Ancient Enigma Wrapped in a Web of Deceit

Immerse yourself in the riveting world of Peter Tremayne's Shroud for the Archbishop, a masterful tale of intrigue and suspense set against the atmospheric backdrop of 7th century Rome.

The novel centers on the sharp-witted Sister Fidelma, an Irish nun and advocate of the ancient Brehon Law. This brave female sleuth dives headfirst into the dangerous political undercurrents of Rome's Lateran Palace when Wighard, Archbishop designate of Canterbury, is found brutally murdered. With a trail of bodies, labyrinthine motives, and stolen treasures, Fidelma must unravel the seemingly impenetrable knot of intrigue before the killer strikes again.

This gripping story will transport you back to the Dark Ages, a world where religious tensions simmer beneath the surface. With a setting that extends from ancient Ireland to old England, this absorbing tale artfully combines elements of religion, crime, suspense, and history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781466814028
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/15/1996
Series:	Sister Fidelma Series , #2
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	250
Sales rank:	333,163
File size:	307 KB

About the Author

Peter Tremayne is the fiction pseudonym for Peter Beresford Ellis, a world-reknowned Celtic scholar with over 20 non-fiction books on various aspects of the ancient Celtic World. He lives in London, England.

PETER TREMAYNE is a pseudonym of Peter Berresford Ellis, a renowned scholar who has written extensively on the ancient Celts and the Irish. As Tremayne, he is best known for his stories and novels featuring Fidelma of Cashel, beginning with Absolution by Murder. He lives in London.

Editorial Reviews

Series protagonist Sister Fidelma of Cashel (Act of Mercy) attempts to save her Saxon monk friend, Brother Eadulf, from wrongful execution. A faithful rendering of life and justice in seventh-century Ireland. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Life in late-seventh-century Ireland can be rife with conflict, but you'd never know it from Sister Fidelma's endlessly pedantic approach to crime. Fidelma (Act of Mercy, 2001, etc.), a royal lawyer, races to a rival kingdom to rescue a friend and the friend's brother, the King of Cashel, from an imminent hanging. Saxon Brother Eadulf has been summarily tried for the rape and murder of a novice at the Abbey of the Blessed Maedoc. Ancient Irish tradition forbids capital punishment, but the Abbey and the kingdom of Muman have come under the pernicious (in Fidelma is and Tremayne's undisguised opinion) influence of the Roman Penitentials, the punitive code of justice that precedes our own. In arguing for Eadulf's life, Fidelma's also asserting the superiority of the humane Irish tradition by means of tedious legal interpretations, with ancient Irish words masquerading as stirring oratory. Fortunately for Eadulf, however, her arguments bully the Muman King into allowing her to investigate. At the Abbey, Fidelma meets the power-hungry Abbess Fainder, a Roman convert and a firm believer in Eadulf's guilt, bolstered by an eyewitness and a bloody piece of the victim's robe found on the suspect. The judge, Cashel's old enemy Bishop Forbassach, seems equally convinced of the Saxon's guilt and loyal to the Abbess. Only the stewardess of the Abbey, Sister Etromma, seems immune to the Abbess's charisma. Tremayne's history is intellectually stimulating. If only he were as interested in humanizing Fidelma as in educating readers on the glories of ancient Irish civilization.

Kirkus Reviews