Peter Berresford Ellis, a scholar of the ancient Celts and the Irish, writes as “Peter Tremayne” and specializes in complicated mystery novels. “Tremayne” is best known for his Fidelma of Cashel series featuring a 17th Century Irish sleuth who begins as a nun but after about 20 books decides to leave the religious life and pursue murderers as a powerful attorney whose brother just happens to be a King.

Atonement of Blood is the 24th book in the series and opens with an attempted assassination of the King, Fidelma’s brother, and Fidelma vows to investigate the crime while her brother is near death.

As in the dozen or so Fidelma mysteries I’ve read, the plot is tangled as Fidelma tries to discover the identity of the assassin. The search leads Fidelma into the politics of kingdoms–some unfriendly–that surround Cashel. Four years after Cashel won a local war, seeds of conspiracy and treachery lead Fidelma to probe into the deciding battle that resolved the conflict but left groups who planned vengeance. Fidelma interrogates both nobles and warriors to get to the bottom of what really happened.

For 30 years I’ve been enjoying Fidelma’s exploits as she discovers the truth and identifies murderers. Along the way, readers learn a lot about Irish history and the ways of Life in the 17th Century. Do you enjoy historical mysteries? GRADE: B+

Sister Fidelma series:

1. Absolution By Murder (1994)
2. Shroud for the Archbishop (1995)
3. Suffer Little Children (1995)
4. The Subtle Serpent (1996)
5. The Spider’s Web (1997)
6. Valley of the Shadow (1998)
7. The Monk Who Vanished (1999)
8. Act of Mercy (1999)
9. Our Lady of Darkness (2000)
10. Hemlock At Vespers (2000) (short stories)
11. Smoke in the Wind (2001)
12. The Haunted Abbot (2002)
13. Badger’s Moon (2003)
14. Whispers of the Dead (2004) (short stories)
15. The Leper’s Bell (2004)
16. Master of Souls (2005)
17. A Prayer for the Damned (2006)
18. Dancing with Demons (2007)
19. The Council of the Cursed (2008)
20. The Dove of Death (2009)
21. The Chalice of Blood (2010)
22. Behold a Pale Horse (2011)
23. The Seventh Trumpet (2012)
24. Atonement of Blood (2013)
25. The Devil’s Seal (2015)
26. The Second Death (2016)
27. Penance of the Damned (2016)
28. Night of the Lightbringer (2017)
29. Die Wahrheit ist der Lüge Tod (2018)
30. Bloodmoon (2018)
31. Blood in Eden (2019)
32. The Shapeshifter’s Lair (2020)
33. The House of Death (2021)
34. Death of a Heretic (2022)
35. The Revenge of the Stormbringer (2023)