Smoke in the Wind: A Mystery of Ancient Ireland
Sister Fidelma, seventh-centuryreligieuseand advocate of the Brehon courts of medieval Ireland, returns in the latest chapter of one of the most suspenseful and intelligent series of historical mysteries. Traveling with Brother Eadulf, her faithful companion and ever-hopeful love interest (the concept of celibacy was alien to the ancient Celtic Church), Fidelma sets out to visit the new archbishop of Canterbury. Blown off course by a raging storm, their ship sails into the Breton kingdom of Dyfed and straight into a particularly puzzling dual mystery. Charged by the local king to investigate the perplexing disappearance of an entire monastic community, Fidelma and Eadulf are also intrigued by the brutal rape and murder of a young local girl. As they begin to unravel two separate crimes, it becomes increasingly clear that the strands of each need to be interwoven to expose a diabolically clever scheme. Tremayne continues to challenge readers with a compelling combination of church, cultural, and legal history, buttressed by intriguingly complex plots and a superlative cast of sympathetic characters.Margaret FlanaganCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved