The Haunted Abbot

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. The Sister Fidelma novels are taking on almost cult proportions and are becoming ever more popular with each offering from the author, whose obvious knowledge of the times and subjects he writes about shines out like a beacon on the shore. As Sister Fidelma and Brother Eadulf are preparing to leave the shores of England and return to Ireland, they receive a mysterious summons from a boyhood friend of Eadulf, Brother Botulf. He has requested their presence at a nearby Abbey. Eadul and Fidelma battle their way through a winter storm to reach the Abbey, but when they arrive they find that Botulf is dead, killed by an unknown person. Staggered by the murder of his boyhood friend Eadulf, with the help of Fidelma search for the truth, but it soon becomes apparent that the death of Botulf is not the only trouble facing the abbey.

I have read all the books in the Sister Fidelma series to date, and this one is quite different from most of the earlier ones. It appears that the relationship between Eadulf and Fidelma is going to be developed far beyond the Holmes-Watson stereotype that had been used in many of the earlier books. Indeed, Eadulf does most of the detecting during the course of the novel, as Fidelma spends the first 3/4 of the story very ill from a winter-induced ague. She does come back to put things together and solve the mystery at the end of the book, however. The story does take place at Christmas time, but this really doesn't enter into the story much except for the winter season. This also seems like a much darker book than most of the earlier stories. The harsh winter setting and the description of the bleak society of the Saxons (the book is set near Eadulf's home village of Seaxmund's Hame) contrasts starkly with the usual rich description of Irish society in the stories set in Eirann. On a picky note, some of the villains in the story escape punishment and a few of the questions in the story are really unanswered, but the unusual story and the character descriptions make up for that. The ending leads to much intriguing speculation on the futures of Eadulf and Fidelma, and makes me look forward to the continuation of the series. After many stories keeping them in a very static situation, the series promises to make some major changes in the future. Overall, not the best of the series, but still a better than average medieval style mystery.

In 666 AD, Sister Fidelma of Cashel, daughter and sister to kings, is in what will become Great Britain with her Saxon husband Brother Eudolf, the emissary to Theodore, the Arch-bishop of Canterbury. After they are through with their business they travel to Aldred's Abbey to meet Brother Botulf who begged for a midnight meeting. Before they reach the abbey, they are caught in a storm and find shelter with "Mad" Mull who warns them that the place they seek is evil.By the time they reach Aldred's Abbey, Fidelma is sick and Abbot Cild doesn't want a female in residence. He doesn't follow the Celtic Church but is a fanatic about obeying the rules coming out of Rome. Brother Botulf was murdered that morning and when Cild sees the ghost of his dead wife, he locks up Fidelma because he thinks she's a witch. When she is better, Fidelma and Eudolf escape but she must still solve the mystery of the death of Cild's wife and Brother Botulf if she wants to avert a war between two kingdoms.The two protagonists are married under Irish law for a year and a day, but Fidelma realizes she can never be happy in Eudolf's homeland where women are treated as chattel. She does not have the power to question witnesses or give testimony and must tiptoe around the beliefs of the South Folk if she wants to bring the guilty to justice. THE HAUNTED ABBEY is an exciting multi-layered mystery and Peter Tremayne sets up the next book on the series with the last sentence of the novel so that a stunned, excited, and impatient audience will clamor for an early release of that novel.Harriet Klausner

While the mystery itself is not as complex as some of Tremayne's earlier novels have been, The Haunted Abbot provides more character depth than others. He splits the investigation between both Sister Fidelma and Brother Eadulf, allowing them to pursue the mystery together. The atmosphere is cold and dark, along with the December setting, which adds to the suspense. Fans of Eadulf and Fidelma's relationship will not want to miss this book!