Act of Mercy

A Sister Fidelma Mystery of Ancient Ireland

By: Peter Tremayne

Narrated by: Caroline Lennon

In the late autumn of AD 666, Fidelma of Cashel - an advocate of the Brehon courts, sister to the king of Cashel, and religieuse of the Celtic Church - is at a crossroads. Needing to reflect upon her commitment to the religious life and her relationship to the Saxon monk Eadulf, she leaves Eadulf behind and joins a small band sailing from Ireland on a pilgrimage to the shrine of St. James in modern-day Spain. Her first surprise onboard is the appearance of Cian, her first love, a man who had deserted her ten years ago and who stirs up memories she'd rather forget.

As if this weren't complication enough, on the first night out the ship is tossed by a turbulent sea, and a pilgrim disappears, apparently washed overboard. But the appearance of a blood-stained robe raises the possibility of murder, and death continues to dog the tiny band of pilgrims trapped within the close confines of the ship. Battling against the antagonism of her fellow pilgrims, Fidelma is determined to solve this most perplexing of puzzles before the ship reaches the shrine and the killer, if there is one, disappears forever.

©1999 Peter Tremayne (P)2014 Audible Inc.

A bit wooden but great mystery story

As is typical with the Sister Fidelma series, the writing sounds a bit wooden but I can overlook that to enjoy a great mystery. Tremayne tries a bit too hard to make Fidelma a 21st century progressive girl boss transplanted back into ancient Ireland and I think her character would be more relatable if she wasn’t such a Wonder Woman. That aside, this book does have some great historical context and the characters are likable. In this book, Fidelma is on a ship transporting pilgrims to Spain when she must solve a series of murders. Tremayne clearly plots out the mystery well and then allows Fidelma to track things down. This story is unusual in that her friend Eadulf is not with her, but this allows her to miss him and realize what they have together. This is further helped out when Fidelma encounters her first infatuation who she now realizes was and is a jerk, and she realizes how much better Eadulf is. This book does end with a cliffhanger involving Eadulf which presumably will be dealt with in the next book of the series.

Wow

What another great addition to this intriguing series! A pilgrimage turns into a series of deaths on the voyage. There seems to be one common denominator. But the journey to the answers is fraught with bloood. Great!!

We almost lost her in this book...

Sister Fadelma had 2 close encounters with the here after! The writer along with the narrator made it very intense yo listen to. love love love these books!

Sometimes our heros are only human...

It has been years since I first read this book, and I had forgotten how great it is. With more intrigue, and a glimpse into Fidelma's past, this story is captivating. I stayed up much too late listening. Another solid Sister Fidelma mystery.

Great little mystery

I truly enjoyed this read because it wasn’t one of those cozy mysteries, o spies or espionage. A whole new experience for me and learning about that culture was fascinating as my ancestors came from there. I’m definitely going to read more of these mysteries.