Chain of Evidence

March 18, 2013
The death of the heir of clan MacNamara propels the plot of Harrison’s solid ninth 16th-century historical set in the Burren of Ireland (after 2012’s Laws in Conflict). The man’s kin gather to determine his successor, but before things can be settled, Garrett MacNamara, the clan’s chieftain, turns up trampled to death—the apparent victim of a cattle stampede. Irish judge Mara hears conflicting reports as to whether the body was found with a chain on one leg, which heightens her suspicions of foul play. Aided by her faithful law students, she investigates. The situation is made more complex by the presence on the scene of an emissary of Cardinal Wolsey, Stephen Gardiner, who claims to be in the area to study the legal system. The solution isn’t one of Harrison’s cleverest, and some series fans will be disappointed that less is going on with her protagonist’s personal life than usual. Agent: Peter Buckman, the Ampersand Agency (U.K.).

March 15, 2013
Harrison continues her delightful Burren Mystery series with an all-historical new puzzler set in the sixteenth-century west Irish kingdom of the Burren. When a clan leader is seemingly stampeded by a herd of cows, Brehon Mara, regional judge and magistrate in charge of law and order, must confirm the cause of death before a new chieftain can be confirmed. Suspicious after interviewing locals, one of whom recalled seeing a chain tied to the leg of the deceased that has since disappeared, Mara and her law students undertake a full-fledged investigation. With the leadership of the clan hanging in the balance, Mara's investigation takes on additional significance and is steeped in ever increasing danger. Mara, like Peter Tremayne's Sister Fidelma, showcases the uniquely enlightened position women occupied in the legal system of medieval Ireland while at the same time flexing her considerable powers of reasoning and deduction.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)