Dancing with Demons by Peter Tremayne

Sister Fidelma of Cashel is a royal Princess of the Kingdom of Cashel in Ireland. The King is her brother, Colgú, and Fidelma has renounced her part in the succession to become a religuese, sort of like a nun. But she is also trained as a lawyer, and a very high rank of lawyer, known as an Anruth, able to argue before Kings and other high classes.

Fidelma was once a solitary advocate, but she met Brother Eadulf, a Saxon monk, on her first case, and they worked together to solve a crime. They enjoyed working together and worked quite well, and Eadulf began assisting Fidelma in her cases. In time, they grew close, and they ended up marrying, as in the Irish Church, clerics marrying is not seen as a crime or even anything out of the ordinary. Together, they have a son, Alchú.

As the novel opens, Fidelma and Eadulf have been working separate cases in different parts of the Kingdom, and they are both coming home and looking forward to spending time together with their son. But the murder of the High King of Ireland, Sechnussach, demands an investigation, and as the Chief Brehon of Ireland is considered to be too close to the Middle Kingdom of Tara to investigate the murder without bias, he asks Fidelma to take his place, both for her rank, her legal knowledge and her fine mind.

She and Eadulf go to investigate the murder, but as the murderer turned his knife on himself when cornered by the High King's Guards, the investigation is more towards why he was murdered rather than how. The investigation was commanded by Sechnussach's former Tanaist, or second in line to the throne, Cenn Faelad. He will remain Tanaist and not ruler until the investigation is finished, but if there is to be no chaos in the country, the investigation must be completed as quickly as possible... in two weeks at the outside.

Fidelma and Eadulf accept the charge, to discover why the High King was murdered, but encounter lies and cover-ups everywhere they turn. The guards, who claimed to be in the kitchen to check out a noise, were actually there to get a warm drink. The gate guard who let the murderer into the compound, was ordered to do so by the eldest of the High King's daughters, who is mooning over a lover. Could it be the murderer was her lover? But she doesn't seem very upset by his death.

As the investigation lengthens, the mysteries surrounding Sechnussach's death deepen. What was the mysterious heavy disk delivered to Sechnussach in the dead of night, and why did the murderer speak of Crón, or "Blame" before he died?

Fidelma decides to take the investigation north, to the area that the murderer was chief of, to investigate what may have led him to try and murder the High King. But what they find there is dark magic and foul sacrifice of those of Christianity. When Eadulf is captured by those behind the murder and the raiding, can Fidelma unravel the mystery and save her husband's life while bringing the true murderer to justice?

Peter Tremayne's Sister Fidelma books are always interesting to read, peppered with tidbits of what life was really like in the 7th century in Ireland, and the conflicts, crises and information that makes the stories seem real in a viceral way. Mixing interesting characters, intriguing mysteries and abundant historical tidbits combine to make a story I just can't keep myself away from.

Fidelma can come off as rather cold, but her passions aren't not there, just buried deep beneath her logical surface. Her ability to keep her head in trying circumstances and with difficult witnesses. Also, her high birth and rank as an advoate allows her to give as good as she gets when it comes to those trying to stand on birth or position to give her grief. She is personally brave and stands unflinching in the face of danger, yet she isn't a fighter, needing guards from among her brother's guards to keep her safe from physical harm.

And she does love Eadulf and her son Alchú deeply. Her passions are there, just more deeply buried behind her logical mind than most. And though the plot here is very twisted and being covered up by various people who are not working together. And those who are conspirators are actually working at cross-purposes, which adds to the arcane intricacies of the plot. If you like mysteries, and you like history, this book will be a must-read for you. I can't recommend it more highly.