Saturday, August 9, 2008

The Spider's Web by Peter Tremayne

The Spider's Web by Peter Tremayne is subtitled A Mystery of Ancient Ireland. This fascinating historical novel takes place in 7th century Ireland. This was a time when ...
The Irish laws gave more rights and protection to women that any other western law code at that time or since. Women could ... aspire to all offices and professions ... be political leaders, command their people in battle as warriors ... had the right of divorce ... inheritance ...
Not surprisingly, the protagonist, Sister Fidelma, is female, strong, clever, and respected.

However, beyond the historical setting, complete with descriptions of culture and technology, this book is a carefully plotted whodunit with a steadily increasing body count and list of suspects. It all builds to a classic climax and resolution where all the (surviving) suspects and witnesses are collected together and Sister Fidelma unravels the spider's web one strand at a time, cutting off all paths of escape until the spider is trapped in the center.

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