The Seventh Trumpet

May 20, 2013
Set in 670 C.E., Tremayne’s 20th full-length Sister Fidelma whodunit (after 2012’s Behold a Pale Horse) is one of the weaker entries in an otherwise strong historical series. Fidelma, a law-court advocate, has given up her title of sister in the hope of securing a more senior position, which has gone to another. Now acting independently of “any Rule or religious authority,” she finds herself in familiar territory after the discovery in a farmer’s field of a well-dressed male corpse with multiple stab wounds. This murder proves to be the first of several the sleuth must try to solve. Unconvincing perils and an unremarkable solution matter less than Tremayne’s inability to harness his talent to integrate the political intrigue and scheming of the time into the story in such a way as to make the stakes real to a modern reader. Agent: Charles Schlessiger, Brandt & Hochman.

June 1, 2013
A king's sister investigating a murder uncovers a plot against her brother. Though she's well-respected throughout ancient Ireland for her skills as an advocate of the Brehon Law, Fidelma of Cashel (Behold a Pale Horse, 2012, etc.) is chagrined that she hasn't been appointed Chief Brehon. A murder investigation may be just what she needs to divert her mind. The body of a young man who appears to be of noble birth is found near Cashel, home of Fidelma's brother, the king of Muman. The king, who's busy entertaining his future wife, is happy to have Fidelma and her companion, Brother Eadulf, set off, accompanied by two warriors, to trace the man's identity. Many of the areas nearby have recently been beset by the burning and pillaging of unknown raiders, but Fidelma and her friends have no problems at first. All too soon, however, they come across another murdered man, and Fidelma is abducted along with Torna, a young bard they've met camping along a river. Eadulf and a warrior follow the trail and find Fidelma, who's been left to die in a warehouse, but Torna is gone. Their attempt to find him leads them into ever more trouble and unearths a conspiracy that may involve several of the nearby rulers in the lands surrounding Muman. Fidelma's ability to solve difficult problems stands her in good stead when she has to untangle a complicated plan to overthrow her brother. Fidelma shines once more in a scholarly, clever and eminently readable historical mystery.

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