Absolution by murder

This immensely appealing launch of a new series is set in seventh-century Ireland, which in Tremayne's rendering is a golden age of enlightenment and of total equality for women. Such narrative stumbling blocks as an abundance of stereotypical characters and much more dynastic trivia, ecclesiastical and secular history than can be absorbed are offset by the vigorous, intriguing puzzle posed by a series of murders and by Sister Fidelma, the tale's brilliant and beguiling heroine. An ecclesiastical conclave to settle major divisions between the Roman and Celtic branch of Christianity is held at Whitby in 664. When a major proponent of the Celtic way, the Abbess of Kildare, is murdered, Sister Fidelma, a fellow Celtic follower and legally trained scholar, is asked to investigate. She is paired with her ideological opposite, Brother Eadulf, on the Roman side, who is shrewd, highly educated and immediately smitten with the outspoken sister. The intellectual and physical sparks that are ignited between these two clerics (in an age before celibacy) light up the pages, and when two monks are killed and the malevolence thickens, the book becomes difficult to put down. It is reassuring to read that Sister Fidelma and Brother Eadulf will reappear... next time in Rome. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

The first volume in a projected series featuring Sister Fidelma, a seventh-century nun who is also a dálaigh (or advocate) authorized to practice law in the courts of her native Ireland. The story's set in a climate of religious conflict, brought to a boil when a powerful Northumbrian ruler brings together leaders from the Celtic church and from Rome to determine whose doctrine and practice will hold sway in his kingdom. The murder of an eminent principal in the subsequent debate casts suspicion on both parties and tests the deductive mettle of Fidelma, and of Brother Eadwulf, the handsome young ``Romanist'' monk who teams up with her to investigate--and, we suspect, to forge a relationship that will be further explored in later volumes. The mystery per se isn't much (the killer's identity is easily guessable early on); the dialogue is straight out of 1950s Hollywood historical ``epics''; and Tremayne indulges an annoying habit of conveying bucketsful of period information in every casual conversation. On the other hand, he does keep introducing intriguing new characters virtually throughout the novel. And in the simultaneously sharp-tongued and full womanly figure of Sister Fidelma he's created a heroine whom many readers will willingly follow. Even Brother Cadfael might have tolerated her.