The Subtle Serpent by Peter TremayneMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Still early in the series, Peter Tremayne's The Subtle Serpent gives us a not-yet-fully developed Sister Fidelma, and a strange intermingling of Brother Eadulf. Something is definitely amiss at the Abbey of the Salmon of the Three Wells, one of which has recently hosted a beheaded corpse! The whodunit aspects stretch out a bit longer than necessary, and the twists and turns feel a bit more like loose threads, but it is a solid installment in the series. Most enjoyable is Sister Fidelma's facing off with the cantankerous (that's generous) Abbess Draigen. There are rather a lot of sisters to keep track of, and so empathy for some of the characters doesn't really have a chance to develop. As always, however, Tremayne weaves in medieval Irish history of both pagan and early Christian origins and it is well worth allowing yourself to be lured in to a land of yesteryear wherein the contexts may be old, but the motives are just as relevant today.
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