Suffer Little Children

Book excerpt: Sister Fidelma returns in another spellbinding story of murder and intrigue in seventh-century Ireland–when the murder of a high cleric threatens to result in a bloody war. Suffer Little Children is Peter Tremayne's riveting saga of mystery and suspense that intricately weaves a tapestry of murder and political intrigue in seventh-century Ireland. Suffer Little Children centers around the murder of the Venerable Dacan, a revered scholar of the Celtic Church slain under mysterious circumstances during a visit to the Abbey of Ros Ailithir. His death sparks a possible war between two Irish kingdoms, Fearna and Muman. When the former decides to leverage Dacan's murder to instigate conflict, the latter summons the indomitable Sister Fidelma. She must use her investigative prowess to not only unravel the murder mystery but also to prevent an imminent war. But all is not as it seems within the abbey walls. Fidelma is quick to discern that there are more insidious forces at play, forces that threaten to derail her investigation and snuff out her life. Combining the nuances of early Christianity, the ancient Celtic Church, and the Brehon legal system, this gripping mystery reveals the lurking dangers of the Dark Ages.