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Title: The Dove of Death

Subtitle: A Mystery of Ancient Ireland

Author: Peter Tremayne

Narrator: Caroline Lennon

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 40 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-18-15

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 39 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

In A.D. 670, an Irish merchant ship is attacked by a pirate vessel off the southern coast of the Breton peninsula. Merchad, the ship's captain, and Bressal, a prince from the Irish kingdom of Muman, are killed in cold blood after they have surrendered. Among the other passengers who manage to escape the slaughter are Fidelma of Cashel and her faithful companion, Brother Eadulf.

Once safely ashore, Fidelma - sister to the King of Muman and an advocate of the Brehon law courts - is determined to bring the killers to justice, not only because her training demands it but also because one of the victims was her cousin. The only clue to the killers identity is the symbol of the dove on the attacking ship's sails, a clue that leads her on a dangerous quest to confront the man known as The Dove of Death.

Members Reviews:

fun to follow along with Fidelma in a foreign land with dubious authority.

Fidelma and Eadulf are returning home from the last book and chance upon her cousin in Breton as well as the ship's captain from a while ago. The ship is taken by pirates and those men are killed while Fidelma and Eadulf jump into the sea. Fidelma's sense of honor demands she find the culprit. As usual she finds much more. The culprits were easier to discover than the motives, but fun to follow along with Fidelma in a foreign land with dubious authority.

A Bit Disappointing

I am a big Sister Fidelma fan. I read this book on Kindle & was a bit disappointed. The setting for this book is the European continent (as opposed to the Irish island)in the 7th century AD. I found it very frustrating that I couldn't place the location in my mind because I wasn't sufficiently versed in the ancient place names for the area & whether the location was Brittany or Burgundy. I don't know if the paper edition included a map, but a map would have been very enlightening. Actually, an actual map of the setting & a fictitious map of the relation of the fictional locations to each other would have been ideal.

The events of the book occur as Fidelma & Aedulf are returning from the Conference at Atun in Burgandy, France which is the setting of the book immediately preceding this oneThe Council of the Cursed (The Sister Fidelma of Cashel). The pair are onboard a ship when they are attacked by pirates & end up marooned on a small island where they are assisted by a monk. They make their way back to the mainland where they attempt to identify and apprehend the pirates.

While I am aware that the rift between the Celtic Church & Rome was a major component of the time period in which Fidelma lives, the constant encounter of nasty, oppositional clerics over the course of a number of books is beginning to wear on me. Conversely, I felt the differences between the 7th century Irish culture & the culture of Brittany, which is alluded to in the book, could have been further elucidated.

The characters were well drawn, as one would expect from Mr. Tremayne, but the sheer number of new characters was daunting. The plotting was excellent and kept me riveted until the final page.