Book description
Wighard, archbishop designate of Canterbury, has been discovered
garrotted in his chambers in the Lateran Palace in Rome in the autumn of
AD 664. The solution to this terrible crime appears simple as the palace
guards have arrested Brother Ronan Ragallach, as he fled from Wighard's
chamber. Although the Irish monk denies responsibility, Bishop Gelasius
is convinced the crime is political and that Wighard was slain in pique
at the triumph of the pro-Roman Anglo-Saxon clergy in their debate with
the pro-Columba Irish clergy at Whitby. There is also a matter of
missing treasure: the goodwill gifts Wighad had brought with him to Rome
and the priceless chalices sent for the Holy Father Vitalian's blessings
have all been stolen. Bishop Gelasius realises that Wighard's murder
could lead to war between the Saxon and Irish kingdoms if Ronan is
accused without independent evidence. So he invites Sister Fidelma of
Kildare and Brother Eadulf to investigate. But more deaths must follow
before Fidelma is finally able to put together the strange jigsaw in
this tale of evil and vengeance.
Wighard, archbishop designate of Canterbury, has been discovered
garrotted in his chambers in the Lateran Palace in Rome in the autumn
of AD 664. The solution to this terrible crime appears simple as the
palace guards have arrested Brother Ronan Ragallach, as he fled from
Wighard's chamber.
Although the Irish monk denies responsibility, Bishop Gelasius
is convinced the crime is political and that Wighard was slain in
pique at the triumph of the pro-Roman Anglo-Saxon clergy in their
debate with the pro-Columba Irish clergy at Whitby. There is also a
matter of missing treasure: the goodwill gifts Wighad had brought with
him to Rome and the priceless chalices sent for the Holy Father
Vitalian's blessings have all been stolen.
Bishop Gelasius realises that Wighard's murder could lead to war
between the Saxon and Irish kingdoms if Ronan is accused without
independent evidence. So he invites Sister Fidelma of Kildare and
Brother Eadulf to investigate. But more deaths must follow before
Fidelma is finally able to put together the strange jigsaw in this
tale of evil and vengeance.
Peter Tremayne is the fiction pseudonym of a well-known authority on
the ancient Celts, who has utilised his knowledge of the Brehon law
system and 7th-Century Irish society to create a new concept in
detective fiction.
