Anna S. (annapi) reviewed on 1/2/2010 + 334 more book reviews

Sister Fidelma has been called back home from her pilgrimage by a frantic note from her brother the king that her friend Brother Eadulf has been accused of the rape and murder of a young novice. Rushing back to defend him in court, Fidelma is shocked to find that he has been tried, convicted and sentenced to be executed within 24 hours under the Roman penitential laws, which have been adopted by the neighboring kingdom whose king is at odds with her brother, in defiance of the Irish common laws. Now Fidelma must find evidence for a stay of execution, which she hopes will give her time to investigate more. What she finds is a web of deceit and evil hanging over the abbey, at the center of which is an autocratic abbess who is a close friend of Bishop Forbassach, an old nemesis of Fidelma's and the judge who had convicted Eadulf. This volume is considerably darker and more suspenseful and convoluted than previous installments in the series, and within its tangled threads is woven age-old arguments for and against capital punishment. Another excellent addition to the series!

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