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Sister Fidelma #15
Whispers of the Dead
Fidelma of Cashel - sister to the King of Muman, a religieuse of the Celtic Church and an advocate of the Brehon courts - returns in this new collection of fifteen tales. These stories of murder, mayhem, and mystery are not merely spellbinders but also provide insight into the ways and mores of the complex, fascinating society of seventh century Ireland as well as heretofore unrevealed background details of Fidelma herself.
384 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
40 people are currently reading
461 people want to read
About the author
Peter Tremayne
206 books473 followersPeter Berresford Ellis (born 10 March 1943) is a historian, literary biographer, and novelist who has published over 90 books to date either under his own name or his pseudonyms Peter Tremayne and Peter MacAlan. He has also published 95 short stories. His non-fiction books, articles and academic papers have made him acknowledged as an authority on Celtic history and culture. As Peter Tremayne, he is the author of the international bestselling Sister Fidelma mystery series. His work has appeared in 25 languages.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews
July 27, 2019
This novel is a cornucopia overflowing with historical facts that cover not only the mid-7th century in Ireland, but also includes references to stories from the time of the druids and ancient battles with the Romans. Some of the references pre-date the earliest days of Christianity on the Island while others are shortly afterward.
This is the second collection of short stories about Sister Fidelma and her investigations into mysteries. Some of the mysteries involve fraud, some involve theft, and, of course, there are the mysteries involving death.
In these 15 short stories, I learned so much about the laws of the time and how they were applied that I had to pause between each story to absorb everything. The laws that Sister Fidelma knows backwards and forwards are fascinating in their logic and their application. With many of the laws, I couldn’t help but think how much better off we would be following those same laws adapted to our modern times.
I especially enjoyed reading the story that took place during the time of the three-year council of law reform. Although the story involved something completely different, and although this council had been mentioned in another novel, somehow it felt more immediate and visceral in this story.
Just imagine if our highest courts were to hold such councils today. Every three years, the highest judges, as well as representative judges from each area, as well as lawyers representing smaller areas would meet to go through the existing laws. The purpose was to ensure that the laws were always updated to stay current with any changes in society and governance – to stay relevant and of service to the people.
One story centered around the laws of fosterage – a custom of antiquity that I found fascinating and which still has interesting (if distantly related) parallels in our current world, such as the custom of people sending their children away to school, and/or the roles of mentors and advisors that are sometimes taken by extended family members in our own times.
Each of these stories gave me much to think about and appreciate, and I can’t think of any better way to learn history than from a renowned scholar specializing in the time and place who also happens to be a talented storyteller and skillful writer.
This is the second collection of short stories about Sister Fidelma and her investigations into mysteries. Some of the mysteries involve fraud, some involve theft, and, of course, there are the mysteries involving death.
In these 15 short stories, I learned so much about the laws of the time and how they were applied that I had to pause between each story to absorb everything. The laws that Sister Fidelma knows backwards and forwards are fascinating in their logic and their application. With many of the laws, I couldn’t help but think how much better off we would be following those same laws adapted to our modern times.
I especially enjoyed reading the story that took place during the time of the three-year council of law reform. Although the story involved something completely different, and although this council had been mentioned in another novel, somehow it felt more immediate and visceral in this story.
Just imagine if our highest courts were to hold such councils today. Every three years, the highest judges, as well as representative judges from each area, as well as lawyers representing smaller areas would meet to go through the existing laws. The purpose was to ensure that the laws were always updated to stay current with any changes in society and governance – to stay relevant and of service to the people.
One story centered around the laws of fosterage – a custom of antiquity that I found fascinating and which still has interesting (if distantly related) parallels in our current world, such as the custom of people sending their children away to school, and/or the roles of mentors and advisors that are sometimes taken by extended family members in our own times.
Each of these stories gave me much to think about and appreciate, and I can’t think of any better way to learn history than from a renowned scholar specializing in the time and place who also happens to be a talented storyteller and skillful writer.
January 28, 2022
**Should Read as 4.5 Stars!**
Read this book in 2010, and its the 15th volume, chronologically, of the brilliant "Sister Fidelma" series.
This set of short stories are probably set between the years, AD 666-667, and it will give you all some more wonderful cases for Sister Fidelma to investigate.
Once more in her own resolute style of investigating, accompanied with a cunning and clear mind, Sister Fidelma uses her knowledge of the Brehon Law to the best of her ability, in catching the culprits and convicting them.
What si to follow is another great set of short stories with cases to solve for Sister Fidelma, some with other without Brother Eadulf, where our Lady of Wisdom and Law will excel in her role as Brehon of the Kingdom of Muman.
Highly recommended, for this is another great set of short stories, and that's why I like to call them: "A Wonderful Set Of Sister Fidelma Short Stories"!
Read this book in 2010, and its the 15th volume, chronologically, of the brilliant "Sister Fidelma" series.
This set of short stories are probably set between the years, AD 666-667, and it will give you all some more wonderful cases for Sister Fidelma to investigate.
Once more in her own resolute style of investigating, accompanied with a cunning and clear mind, Sister Fidelma uses her knowledge of the Brehon Law to the best of her ability, in catching the culprits and convicting them.
What si to follow is another great set of short stories with cases to solve for Sister Fidelma, some with other without Brother Eadulf, where our Lady of Wisdom and Law will excel in her role as Brehon of the Kingdom of Muman.
Highly recommended, for this is another great set of short stories, and that's why I like to call them: "A Wonderful Set Of Sister Fidelma Short Stories"!
December 9, 2014
Great book to read between other books as the short stories are very enjoyable for any fan of Sister Fidelma series. You get to the meat of the matter within pages and Feisty Fidelma is at her lucid best solving crimes and putting the religious in their proper places!
If you have read all or many of the books of this series you know that you have to wait until the last chapter to hear her judgments/conclusions. With these short clips you get rewarded in minutes. Oh joy!
If you have read all or many of the books of this series you know that you have to wait until the last chapter to hear her judgments/conclusions. With these short clips you get rewarded in minutes. Oh joy!
September 14, 2016
I'm normally not one for short stories, but these stories were able to captivate me and hold my attention. Out of the 15 stories, only 1-2 I didn't really enjoy. I tend to enjoy longer mysteries that have more detail; but Tremayne was able to give detail in just a few pages. I will be reading more of his works in the future.
April 12, 2017
What's not to love, 15 good little mysteries and showing a 6th century, Irish woman with as many civil rights as we have today. When Rome moved in and eliminated all that, it took until the late 1960s for women to regain that many rights.
November 5, 2015
Another fun collection of pieces by Peter Tremayne concerning the deductive skills of seventh century Irish religieuse and legal advocate, Sister Fidelma. These short stories are drawn from all periods of of Fidelma's career, and include a story in which she impresses her teacher while still in her early years of study with the perceptiveness, her logical reasoning and her passion for truth. Written later in Tremayne's career, the narratives flow more smoothly and the tics are less pronounced. And the mysteries are fun. I continue to be a fan.
April 13, 2024
In this second collection of short stories in the Sister Fidelma series (Hemlock at Vespers is the first), we get three original stories, and the rest have appeared elsewhere. This can be frustrating for the already-initiated. I'd love to have a "dossier" or bio of Fidelma in the beginning -- she's a dalaigh, qualified to the level of anruth, etc, etc. so that these details could be left out of every story. But, I get it -- most short story collections are like this, but when they all involve the same character, it can feel tedious to go through it each time, in each story. I understand it in the books--that way they can be read out of sequence.
That aside, Fidelma fans may appreciate the appearance of characters such as Abbot Laisran, Fidelma's distant cousin/friend (not sure? varying descriptions), who appears in three different stories in the collection (see also "A Canticle for Wulfstan" in Hemlock at Vespers). Abbot Colmán, too, appears elsewhere in the Fidelmaverse. One of the more interesting stories for those wanting more of Fidelma's backstory is "The Blemish"--it is a bit of slog unless you love socratic debate, but it is nice to see Fidelma as a young law student in examination with THE Brehon Morann (of whom we hear in almost every book). Eadulf only makes one appearance in the last story, "The Lost Eagle" (and strangely, he doesn't speak). I enjoyed "The Banshee" because one of the most interesting aspects of Fildema's character is how she has to negotiate Christianity and the old religion, without dismissing the latter wholly as "superstition" and acknowledging the powertripping aspects of the former. "The Fosterer", new to the collection, is particularly sad, as no one really "wins" at the end.
The collection would work well for someone not that familiar with the series--it definitely stands alone, and readers who follow the chronology of the series might not appreciate the disruption. It is interesting to see all the different contexts, however, and amusing to see that the stories have previous appeared volumes ranging from Great Irish Drinking Stories to The Mammoth Book of Ancient Roman Whodunits.
That aside, Fidelma fans may appreciate the appearance of characters such as Abbot Laisran, Fidelma's distant cousin/friend (not sure? varying descriptions), who appears in three different stories in the collection (see also "A Canticle for Wulfstan" in Hemlock at Vespers). Abbot Colmán, too, appears elsewhere in the Fidelmaverse. One of the more interesting stories for those wanting more of Fidelma's backstory is "The Blemish"--it is a bit of slog unless you love socratic debate, but it is nice to see Fidelma as a young law student in examination with THE Brehon Morann (of whom we hear in almost every book). Eadulf only makes one appearance in the last story, "The Lost Eagle" (and strangely, he doesn't speak). I enjoyed "The Banshee" because one of the most interesting aspects of Fildema's character is how she has to negotiate Christianity and the old religion, without dismissing the latter wholly as "superstition" and acknowledging the powertripping aspects of the former. "The Fosterer", new to the collection, is particularly sad, as no one really "wins" at the end.
The collection would work well for someone not that familiar with the series--it definitely stands alone, and readers who follow the chronology of the series might not appreciate the disruption. It is interesting to see all the different contexts, however, and amusing to see that the stories have previous appeared volumes ranging from Great Irish Drinking Stories to The Mammoth Book of Ancient Roman Whodunits.
May 15, 2023
Bei diesem Buch handelt es sich um eine Sammlung von 15 Kurzgeschichten, die verschiedene Fälle und Gesetze des Rechtssystems des mittelalterlichen Irlands behandeln. Fidelma ermittelt, und nur in der letzten Geschichte taucht noch kurz ihr Ehemann Eadulf auf; alle Geschichten sind zeitlich vor deren Hochzeit entstanden.
Die Seite "Bücherserien" zeigt dieses Buch genau wie "Der falsche Apostel" losgelöst von der Fidelma-Reihe auf, weil es sich um Kurzgeschichten handelt, doch alle anderen Quellen, die ich konsultiert habe, geben unterschiedliche Positionen in der Reihe an, was ein wenig verwirrt. Leider weiß ich nicht mehr die ursprüngliche Quelle, die ich für die Auflistung in meinem Blog verwendet habe, denn dort ist das Buch die Nummer 22, bei Thalia ist es Band 6, bei Amazon, dem Verlag und Goodreads Band 14, und auf der Histo-Couch taucht es gleich gar nicht auf 🤔
Doch egal, ich habe das Buch jetzt gelesen und die einzelnen Geschichten sehr genossen. Ein Vorteil bei Kurzgeschichten ist ja, dass das ganze Beiwerk wegfällt, es gibt keine Längen, sondern wir tauchen sofort in den Kern ein, purzeln quasi in das Rätsel und schauen fasziniert zu, wie Schwester Fidelma jeden einzelnen Fall löst, die Täter entlarvt und für Gerechtigkeit sorgt. Bei nur einem einzigen Fall war ich mit dem Rechtssystem nicht wirklich zufrieden und stimme Fidelma vollkommen zu, die ebenso traurig über eine möglichst gute Lösung grübelt.
86/100 bzw. 09/10 Punkte.
https://sunsys-blog.blogspot.com/2023...
Die Seite "Bücherserien" zeigt dieses Buch genau wie "Der falsche Apostel" losgelöst von der Fidelma-Reihe auf, weil es sich um Kurzgeschichten handelt, doch alle anderen Quellen, die ich konsultiert habe, geben unterschiedliche Positionen in der Reihe an, was ein wenig verwirrt. Leider weiß ich nicht mehr die ursprüngliche Quelle, die ich für die Auflistung in meinem Blog verwendet habe, denn dort ist das Buch die Nummer 22, bei Thalia ist es Band 6, bei Amazon, dem Verlag und Goodreads Band 14, und auf der Histo-Couch taucht es gleich gar nicht auf 🤔
Doch egal, ich habe das Buch jetzt gelesen und die einzelnen Geschichten sehr genossen. Ein Vorteil bei Kurzgeschichten ist ja, dass das ganze Beiwerk wegfällt, es gibt keine Längen, sondern wir tauchen sofort in den Kern ein, purzeln quasi in das Rätsel und schauen fasziniert zu, wie Schwester Fidelma jeden einzelnen Fall löst, die Täter entlarvt und für Gerechtigkeit sorgt. Bei nur einem einzigen Fall war ich mit dem Rechtssystem nicht wirklich zufrieden und stimme Fidelma vollkommen zu, die ebenso traurig über eine möglichst gute Lösung grübelt.
86/100 bzw. 09/10 Punkte.
https://sunsys-blog.blogspot.com/2023...
November 7, 2020
This book comprised of 15 mysteries that had to be solved - by Sister Fidelma, 'the seventh-century sleuth of the Celtic Church'. I liked the fact that there was such a powerful female protagonist - and she fitted the role well, spotting things that others had missed and being able to read body language to perfection. The tales were all very different and spotlighted the ways of life as 'advocate of the law courts of Ireland, using the ancient Brehon Law system'. This was a good book to dip into with the short stories as it didn't break the flow if I left off for a couple of days. It was fascinating to understand more and more of the legal system at that time. The motivations for the crimes fitted the time period well. I recommend this book, especially for cosy crime lovers (as opposed to readers who revel in graphic violence and very scary serial killers).
March 31, 2018
Fifteen short stories about the exploits of Sister Fidelma, and there is no problem if they are read out of sequence of the series. As for the series of novels, it is worth reading them in sequence to avoid spoilers. I've read more than twenty and am looking forward to more of them. Peter Tremayne's Sister Fidelma has a huge following; an organized group with a publication. Like Sherlock Holmes, she has taken on a life of her own, probably because she represents an aspect of civilized society that we long for.
January 12, 2018
I love this series and the characters -- set in early Ireland and touch on how the legal system works using Sister Fidelma's in the detective role and how the Irish church was different from the Roman church, etc. This group of short stories covers different time periods in Fidelma's career and her working toward the "brehon" rank.
If you like historical fiction, this is a series to dig into.
If you like historical fiction, this is a series to dig into.
February 4, 2021
Like all collections of short stories, some are better than others. For me these range between a 3 and a 4.
Tremayne is very good at creating clear, concise and interesting scenarios. As is often the case with mysteries (and ghost stories, now that I think of it), the set up is usually better than the payoff. Sister Fidelma is an interesting protagonist, but I think I'll write more about that in my review of Hemlock at Vespers (which I believe to be a better collection of stories).
Tremayne is very good at creating clear, concise and interesting scenarios. As is often the case with mysteries (and ghost stories, now that I think of it), the set up is usually better than the payoff. Sister Fidelma is an interesting protagonist, but I think I'll write more about that in my review of Hemlock at Vespers (which I believe to be a better collection of stories).
June 27, 2022
Three and a half stars. There are 15 short stories in this collection of Sister Fidelma mysteries. Although the stories were fun to read, I really prefer the novel format as it gives you time to get a good bite of the Zeitgeist of the times. Most of the novels have a good deal of social and religious history that can not be developed in the short story format. If you are a Sister Fidelma fan, you will want to read this.
September 13, 2017
Historias cortas, excesivamente cortas, conforman este nuevo libro de la saga Sister Fidelma.
Si bien es cierto que la ambientación y los personajes siguen estando bien definidos, las tramas -al tratarse de relatos tan breves- no son lo suficientemente elaboradas y en algunos casos la resolución de los misterios es precipitada y algo forzada. Algo inusual en esta saga.
Si bien es cierto que la ambientación y los personajes siguen estando bien definidos, las tramas -al tratarse de relatos tan breves- no son lo suficientemente elaboradas y en algunos casos la resolución de los misterios es precipitada y algo forzada. Algo inusual en esta saga.
August 18, 2020
These are good stories, and the sleuth is intriguing. But whenever you have a bunch of stories, all about the same subject and featuring the same kinds of scenarios, they suffer greatly by being read all at once. So by all means read these stories, but never more than one a week or so to appreciate what you have.
July 15, 2018
Short stories!
Peter Tremayne all the way.
4 stars because I am not a person who reads short stories.
They have their own place, I just prefer the full 300+ page book.
I hope that this does not stop you from reading this series of Sister Fidelma series.
Peter Tremayne all the way.
4 stars because I am not a person who reads short stories.
They have their own place, I just prefer the full 300+ page book.
I hope that this does not stop you from reading this series of Sister Fidelma series.
October 6, 2020
At first I thought it was an anthology, here it's a collection of short stories that were not quite long enough to be Novella's. Each showed the strength of Fidelma's sharp mind and her desire to right wrong's in 7th century Ireland.
November 8, 2022
Classic Celtic Mysteries
Peter Tremayne delivers again in this great collection of 15 Sister Fidelma short story mysteries. Definitely not to be missed and if you're new to the series it's a great sampling of his writing!
Peter Tremayne delivers again in this great collection of 15 Sister Fidelma short story mysteries. Definitely not to be missed and if you're new to the series it's a great sampling of his writing!
October 2, 2024
A great selection of mini stories. Fantastic to read, intriguing whodunits, I had fun seeing if I could work out the killer from the clues given. Gives off Sherlock Holmes vibes, aloof, and very smart Sister Fidelma goes about briskly solving crimes with no emotional bias! 😆
June 15, 2018
Good selection of quick read short stories. As usual, Fidelma is a freakin Irish legend.
December 3, 2018
Engaging stories but not Tremayne's best writing. There were a lot of typos and grammatical errors.
July 31, 2019
Short stories from across Sister Fidelma's life. Pretty good!
December 27, 2019
I don't usually care for short stories but I enjoyed these. Sister Fidelma is an interesting character.
July 15, 2020
I loved his style and knowledge of Celtic history.
November 26, 2020
Interesting mysteries. Engaging setting and characters. Delightful except...it brims with modern prejudices that are read back in time.
January 3, 2021
Fifteen short stories of Sister Fidelma. Interesting, short reads.
Read
April 23, 2021TBA
September 1, 2021
Wonderful stories
Read
January 2, 2022Fifteen Sister Fidlema stories in one book? Excellent. She is clever and intuitive, what a great combination.
August 3, 2022
This is a compilation of Sister Fidelma short stories. A good summer read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews