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leavingsealevel's review against another edition
3.0
..and something lighter. Though, still dealing with some pretty heavy topics. Chick lit about shopping next please?
bev_reads_mysteries's review against another edition
3.0
The Medieval time period isn't my favorite. But I do like Sister Fidelma! Three & 1/2 stars.
secretbookcase's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
3.5
mimima's review against another edition
3.0
This is the third Sister Fidelma mystery I have read, and probably my favorite of the ones I've encountered. While she is always a bit anachronistic, I enjoy the history presented with the story, and this time the reveal, while obvious, was not similar to the first two.
morgandhu's review against another edition
3.0
These days, one of my go-to authors when I’m in need if a comfort read is Peter Tremayne. His Sister Fidelma mysteries just seem to fill a special little place in my soul without being particularly demanding. I’ve been reading them in order, and am currently on the fifth of the Fidelma novels, The Spider’s Web.
In this latest case, Sister Fidelma, once again reunited with her friend and fellow jurist, the Saxon monk, Brother Eadulf, travels to a remote mountain area to investigate the murder of a local chieftain and his sister.
The case would seem to be open and shut - the accused was found beside the chieftain’s body, bloody knife in hand. But Fidelma will not allow anyone to be punished without first having his right to defend himself. But how will she ensure that, when the accused is not only physically deformed, but deaf, dumb and blind from birth?
In fact, Fidelma finds that, far from being a straightforward case, the motivations for these murders - and other strange events that occur during the course of the investigation - are complicated, and have their root in dark secrets more than twenty years old.
One of the aspects of this particular chapter that Caught my attention was the exploration of attitudes toward the disabled. The accused, Moen, is assumed by most to be little more than an animal. The local priest, a convert to the Roman church, holds his condition to be a sign of sin and the work of the devil, and has persuaded the other people living in the chief’s rath, or stronghold, to abhor him. Even Eadulf has little sympathy for one so disabled, citing Saxon customs that would have had Moen killed at birth. But as Fidelma explains the Brehon laws, disabled persons are entitled to respect and care, and to mock or harm a disabled person carried a greater penalty than to so offend an abled person. And her quest to find a way for Moen to tell his story leads to the revelation that he is in fact fully competent intellectually and has learned, thanks to a patient Druid, a way of signing using the Ogham alphabet, and is, in fact, more literate and educated than many of those around him.
A particularly satisfying read.
In this latest case, Sister Fidelma, once again reunited with her friend and fellow jurist, the Saxon monk, Brother Eadulf, travels to a remote mountain area to investigate the murder of a local chieftain and his sister.
The case would seem to be open and shut - the accused was found beside the chieftain’s body, bloody knife in hand. But Fidelma will not allow anyone to be punished without first having his right to defend himself. But how will she ensure that, when the accused is not only physically deformed, but deaf, dumb and blind from birth?
In fact, Fidelma finds that, far from being a straightforward case, the motivations for these murders - and other strange events that occur during the course of the investigation - are complicated, and have their root in dark secrets more than twenty years old.
One of the aspects of this particular chapter that Caught my attention was the exploration of attitudes toward the disabled. The accused, Moen, is assumed by most to be little more than an animal. The local priest, a convert to the Roman church, holds his condition to be a sign of sin and the work of the devil, and has persuaded the other people living in the chief’s rath, or stronghold, to abhor him. Even Eadulf has little sympathy for one so disabled, citing Saxon customs that would have had Moen killed at birth. But as Fidelma explains the Brehon laws, disabled persons are entitled to respect and care, and to mock or harm a disabled person carried a greater penalty than to so offend an abled person. And her quest to find a way for Moen to tell his story leads to the revelation that he is in fact fully competent intellectually and has learned, thanks to a patient Druid, a way of signing using the Ogham alphabet, and is, in fact, more literate and educated than many of those around him.
A particularly satisfying read.
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