Review by Booklist Review
Set in 672 CE, Tremayne's thirty-fourth book in his Sister Fidelma Celtic mystery series is meticulously researched and packed with vivid and enlightening details about the language, history, politics, religion, laws, and social customs of the time. To celebrate the king's wedding, a tournament is to be held, with the Daughters of the Storm, a band of fearless female warriors, competing. But just before the tournament begins, Cera, one of the warriors, is found in the locked chamber next to the king's bedroom with her throat slit. Sister Fidelma, charged to investigate, must determine not only who killed Cera but how the murderer was able to enter the locked room where Cera died. Suspicion initially falls on the king's head of household, but when she dies from poisoning, the case becomes even more baffling. Did she kill herself because she was the prime suspect in Cera's murder? Or was she poisoned by Cera's killer? A plethora of potential suspects, dark secrets from the past, and deadly revenge all play a role in this multilayered, complex, atmospheric, locked room mystery.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A twisted tale of murder and revenge in 7th-century Ireland. It will take all of Sister Fidelma's crime-solving skills to protect her brother, King Colgú, and his wife, Princess Gelgéis, from a murderous plot. The newlyweds are ensconced in a supposedly impregnable apartment when someone manages to get in and kill Cera, the princess' guard and a member of the female warrior band Daughters of the Storm. Dar Luga, Colgú's stewardess, seems disoriented and later dies. Cera had planned to marry Enda, commander of the household guard, and they'd been practicing a martial arts demonstration for the upcoming fair celebrating the king's marriage, but Enda is still a suspect in her death. Fidelma's husband, Brother Eadulf the Angle, who has extensive medical credentials, declares that Dar Luga was poisoned. Fidelma must solve a locked-room mystery; protect her brother, who seems the killer's likely target; and deal with Eadulf's uncharacteristic bursts of anger. The newly arrived physician thinks Dar Luga may have killed Cera and then herself. So the new priest, who's adamantly opposed to women's rights and follows the new faith's laws rather than those of the old gods, refuses Dar Luga a Christian burial. Colgú's near-death by an arrow aimed at him during the opening of the fair seems to settle the question of who was the assassin's real target. Unfortunately, there are so many motives for killing Colgú, ranging from the personal to the political, that it will be no easy task for Fidelma to unravel the case. Fascinating legends and mores of ancient Eire meld seamlessly with a complex mystery. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
