Peter Tremayne

As the leading churchmen and women gather at the Synod of Whitby in 664AD to debate the rival merits of the Celtic and Roman Churches, tempers begin to fray. Conspirators plot an assassination, while mysterious, violent death stalks the shadowy cloisters of the Abbey of St Hilda. When the Abbess Etain, a leading speaker for the Celtic Church, is found murdered suspicion inevitably rests on the Roman faction.

Attending the Synod is Fidelma, of the community of St Brigid of Kildare. As an advocate of the Brehon Court, she is called on to investigate the murder with Brother Eadulf, of the Roman faction. However, the two are so unlike that their partnership is described as that of a wolf and a fox - but which is which?

More gruesome deaths follow and the friction among the clerics could end in civil war. Can the solution to the mysteries avert such a conflict?

Book 1 in the Sister Fidelma series.

When Sister Fidelma sets out on a pilgrimage in the autumn of AD 666, her main preoccupation is to reflect on her commitment to the religious life and her relationship with the Saxon monk, Eadulf, whom she has left behind. Complications arise during the first night on the ship when one of the pilgrims is apparently washed overboard. The discovery of a blood-stained robe raises the question of murder and Fidelma finds herself having to focus all her abilities on solving the mystery. Death dogs the tiny band of pilgrims in the close confines of the ship, but is not until the Holy Shrine is almost reached that the amazing truth is uncovered...

Book 8 in the Sister Fidelma series.

A series of horrific murders has brought terror to the Kingdom of Muman. The victims, all young girls, were slaughtered with unspeakable violence on the nights of three consecutive full moons.

Suspicion falls on three dark strangers from the distant land of Aksum (Ethiopia), who are guests at the Abbey of Finbarr. A panic-stricken mob attacks the abbey, leaving the religious in fear for their lives. Sister Fidelma and Brother Eadulf are called in to restore order and find the killer, but it soon becomes clear that the three mysterious strangers are hiding a dark secret. And what about the ageing Laig, a hermit-like apothecary, who is known to have instructed all three victims about the magic and power of the moon; what sinister truths are hidden in his dark woodland dwelling?

As Fidelma struggles to repair her faltering relationship with Eadulf, can she uncover the truth before the killer strikes again on the next night of the full moon?

Book 13 in the Sister Fidelma series.

AD 670. Sister Fidelma and her faithful companion, Brother Eadulf, have been called to Autun to act as advisors to the Irish delegation of church leaders from Western Europe. But when the body of one of the delegates is found with his skull brutally smashed, they find themselves in the middle of a terrifying murder investigation.

When Sechnussach, High King of Ireland, is found dead in his bedchamber with his throat cut, all clues point to Dubh Duin, the chieftain of the clan Cinél Cairpre. The Chief Brehon of Ireland asks Sister Fidelma to investigate, and she soon reveals an intricate web of conspiracy and deception that threatens to unbalance the five kingdoms and send them spiralling into a violent and bloody civil war....

IRELAND AD 672. The abbey of Muman at Imleach Iubhair is being renovated when its guests' hostel burns to the ground. There is one fatality: Bishop Brodulf of Luxovium, a distinguished visitor and cousin to the King of Franks. Sister Fidelma is asked by Abbot Cuán to investigate the unfortunate incident and soon finds that the bishop had been stabbed to death before the fire had even started.

Thrown into a world of treachery and jealousy, where religious beliefs are vehemently disputed, Fidelma and her companions, Eadulf and Enda, face a barrier of deceit. The abbey, a leading ecclesiastical teaching institution as well as a conhospitae, housing both men and women, is divided into factions. Can Abbot Cuán trust Prioress Suanach, who is in charge of the sisterhood? Can the professors trust each other as well as their students? Moreover, can suspicion be levelled at the builders working on the abbey under their dominant Master Builder, Sìtae? As more deaths follow, Fidelma must use her wit and ingenuity to unravel the complexities of this intricate mystery.

As they are preparing to return to Ireland, Fidelma and Brother Eadulf receive a mysterious summons. Eadulf's childhood friend, Brother Botulf, has requested their presence at Aldred's Abbey at midnight on the old pagan feast of Yule. Fidelma and Eadulf battle against the harsh winter storms to arrive in time, only to find they are too late. Botulf is dead - killed by an unknown hand. As they struggle to comprehend this staggering news, it soon becomes clear that the murder of this young monk is not the only trouble facing the abbey. The abbey is haunted by the ghost of a young woman - a woman some say bears a startling likeness to the Abbot Cild's dead wife. But can Fidelma and Eadulf discover the truth before they themselves fall victim to the danger which pervades the abbey walls?

Book 12 in the Sister Fidelma series.

Sister Fidelma originally made her debut as one of the decade's most interesting sleuths in short story form. The sharp-witted and astonishingly wise religieuse captured the hearts of many readers as she successfully tackled the most baffling of crimes in her other role as advocate of the law courts of Ireland, using the ancient Brehon Law system.

The overwhelming response to these stories launched Fidelma as the heroine of a bestselling series of Celtic crime novels. But it also created a demand for further short stories.

Hemlock at Vespers is the first collection of these stories ever to be published. With its breathtaking range of settings and crimes, it is guaranteed to entertain and intrigue - and is an anthology that no lover of Celtic culture or historical crime should be without.

A short story collection linked to the Sister Fidelma series.

A servant has been murdered and the baby in her charge abducted. Fidelma of Cashel has solved even more horrendous crimes in her career as an advocate of the ancient Brehon Courts of Ireland. But this case is different. For both Sister Fidelma and her companion, Brother Eadulf of Saxmund's Ham, the case is unique because of the personal emotions involved. The baby who has been abducted is their own son.

What is the motive for their crime? Could someone seeking vengeance on Fidelma and Eadulf have done the deed? They have made a lot of enemies in their pursuit of justice.

Fidelma and Eadulf, ignoring protests that they are too emotionally involved to undertake the investigation, set out on an increasingly desperate mission to save their son...

Book 14 in the Sister Fidelma series.

On a storm-driven night, wreckers drive a ship onto rocks off the coast of Ireland. An Abbess leading a pilgrimage is killed and the young religieuse with her abducted. An ageing scholar is murdered in the Abbey of Ard Fhearta. Do these events have a connection? Sister Fidelma and Brother Eadulf go to Ard Fhearta to examine the mystery.

The Abbey of Imleach, in the south-west Irish kingdom of Muman, now rivals Armagh as the centre of the faith in Ireland. For the founder of the abbey was none other than St Ailbe, the man who brought Christianity to Muman, converted its king and baptised him at Cashel in AD448.

But now, calamity has struck the community of the abbey. Not only has an elderly monk suddenly disappeared, but the holy relics of St Ailbe have also vanished. These sacred relics are not just the concern of the abbey's community but are a priceless icon and political symbol of the entire kingdom. So who would have dared to take them?

Sister Fidelma, together with Saxon Brother Eadulf, are asked to investigate. It seems there is more to the disappearances than meets the eye; much more. Fidelma gradually uncovers a sinister conspiracy, in which the participants will stop at nothing - even murder - to achieve their aims...

Book 7 in the Sister Fidelma series.

Arriving home from a pilgrim voyage, Sister Fidelma hears that her faithful Saxon companion, Brother Eadulf, is under sentence of death for murder. She hastens to the capital of Laigin, where he is being held, determined to appeal against the sentence. The crime took place at the abbey of Fearna where Fidelma clashes with the sinister Abbess Fainder. The evidence against Eadulf seems overwhelming - can he actually be guilty? Will Fidelma's emotional involvement blind her in her desperate search for the truth?

Book 10 in the Sister Fidelma series.

February, AD 668. Fidelma of Cashel and Eadulf of Seaxmund's Ham are to be married. But on the eve of the ceremony, the pious Abbot Ultán is found murdered in his chamber. Fidelma soon discovers that Abbot Ultán is not the pious man he was thought to be - and after a long weekend of suspicion, fear and more death, Fidelma finally reveals the truth behind Ultán's murder.

Ireland, AD 670. When the body of a murdered young noble is discovered not far from Cashel, the King calls upon Sister Fidelma and her companion Eadulf to investigate. When Sister Fidelma herself becomes the victim of abduction, it is up to Eadulf to find and save her from imminent death, so that the mystery can be solved...

Wighard, archbishop designate of Canterbury, has been discovered garrotted in his chambers in the Lateran Palace in Rome in the autumn of AD 664. The solution to this terrible crime appears simple as the palace guards have arrested Brother Ronan Ragallach, as he fled from Wighard's chamber.

Although the Irish monk denies responsibility, Bishop Gelasius is convinced the crime is political and that Wighard was slain in pique at the triumph of the pro-Roman Anglo-Saxon clergy in their debate with the pro-Columba Irish clergy at Whitby.

Bishop Gelasius realises that Wighard's murder could lead to war between the Saxon and Irish kingdoms if Ronan is accused without independent evidence. So he invites Sister Fidelma of Kildare and Brother Eadulf to investigate.

Book 2 in the Sister Fidelma series.

Sister Fidelma and her companion Brother Eadulf are on their way to visit the new Archbishop of Canterbury, when their ship is blown off course and they land on the coast of the Welsh kingdom of Dyfed. They are given hospitality by King Gwlyddien and Abbot Tryffin of the Abbey of Dewi Sant, and are asked if they would help to solve the mystery of how the entire monastic community of the Abbey, including the King's eldest son, could vanish into thin air. It's not long before the trail leads to deaths and treachery in high places and Fidelma and Eadulf are faced with a sinister and baffling puzzle.

Book 11 in the Sister Fidelma series.

Ebert is not a man to make enemies. He is a chieftain with a reputation for kindliness and generosity. Yet, one night, his household is aroused by a scream from his chamber. The servants burst in to find Móen, a young man to whom Eber had extended his protection, crouched over the bloody body of the chieftain. Móen's clothes are drenched in Eber's blood and he is clutching a bloodstained knife in his hand.

There seems no doubt of culpability, but why did Móen kill the gentle and courteous Eber? The problem is exacerbated by the fact that Móen himself cannot tell them - for he is deaf, dumb and blind...

Sister Fidelma, advocate of the ancient Irish law courts, is compelled to begin an investigation of the killing in order to present an argument on Móen's behalf before he is condemned.

Book 5 in the Sister Fidelma series.

A headless female corpse is found in the drinking well of a remote abbey in south-west Ireland. One hand clasps a crucifix; tied to the other arm is a pagan death symbol...

A merchant ship is encountered under full sail on the high seas off the Irish coast. But the crew and cargo have vanished - as if by sorcery...

Whose is the body in the well? Where is the crew of the vessel? Are these bizarre events connected? And if so, who is responsible?

The year is AD 666, and Sister Fidelma of Kildare, advocate of the Brehon law courts, must follow a trail of clues and investigate a host of enigmatic suspects to unravel the puzzle.

Book 4 in the Sister Fidelma series.

In the mid-7th Century AD, the Venerable Dacán, a much respected and beloved scholar of the Celtic Church, has been found murdered while on a visit to a remote abbey in the Irish Kingdom of Muman. When Dacán's foul death is used by a neighbouring kingdom to demand reparation from Muman, bloody war seems imminent. Summoned by Muman's dying king to investigate, Sister Fidelma is asked to solve the mystery of the brutal killing and by doing so to prevent the inevitable war breaking out between the two opposing kingdoms. She sets out for the remote abbey with a warrior named Cass - and very little time. But there are more sinister forces at work behind Dacán's death than just political intrigue...

Book 3 in the Sister Fidelma series.

Sister Fidelma has been sent by her brother, king of Cashel, to Laisre, chieftain of Gleann Geis - the 'forbidden valley' - to negotiate permission to build a Christian church and school in his territory, replacing the pagan Druidic sanctuaries. Laisre is known to be hostile to the new religion, and Fidelma knows her mission will be no easy task.

Entering Gleann Geis with the Saxon Brother Eadulf, she comes across the naked, slain bodies of thirty-three young men, positioned in a sunwise circle. Each body bears the marks of stabbing and garrotting; every skull has been smashed. Who is reponsible for such evil, if not the heathen Laisre?

Book 6 in the Sister Fidelma series.

In this collection of tales, Sister Fidelma, the seventh-century sleuth of the Celtic Church, investigates the death of a young peasant woman, and the discovery of a body in a saint's tomb amongst other crimes and misdemeanors.

Sister Fidelma originally made her debut as one of crime fiction's most interesting sleuths in short story form. The sharp-witted religieuse captured the hearts of many readers as she successfully tackled the most baffling of crimes in her other role as advocate of the law courts of Ireland, using the ancient Brehon Law system.

This collection contains an astonishing range of crimes and misdemeanours and seamlessly blends historical detail, character and story into mysteries that will confound and surprise.

Whispers of the Dead is the second collection of these stories to be published in the UK. With its breath-taking range of settings and crimes, it is guaranteed to entertain and intrigue - and is an anthology that no lover of Celtic culture or historical crime should be without.

A short story collection linked to the Sister Fidelma series.