The Haunted Abbot by Peter TremayneMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
For anyone not reading the series in order, there is a mild spoiler below.
Fildelma, now Eadulf's ben cahrrthach, accompanies him to his Saxon homelands to Aldred's Abbey, where Eadulf has received an urgent summons from his old friend Brother Botulf. While warned that the abbey is home to great evil, they journey through perilous weather to arrive at the abbey only to find Botfulf dead and the abbot in charge to be a tyrannical misogynist.
The first half might be more aptly called a "Brother Eadulf" mystery than a Sister Fildema mystery, and some may find that more pleasing than others. Sadly, given than readers have waited eleven prior installments for Fidelma and Eadulf to be more than companions, this book does little to develop their relationship (one might argue until the very last sentence of the book). In what is probably the most chaste representation of a couple I've ever encountered, the final page seems almost to say: "I'll get to them in the next installment, promise!". I guess I will find out.
There's a supernatural tinge here, which of course faithful Fidelma readers will know always holds some other explanation. The characterization is a bit more complex across the board than in some of the other books. Allies can't be trusted, there are several folks who aren't quite antagonists, but neither are they allies, and as always there are mistaken identities. Aldhere, an outlaw, has a rich backstory that provides him with a certain depth and nuance of character. Women get very little airtime (partially due to the setting of Abbot Cild's vehemently male-only abbey), save for a peasant girl named Lioba, the Abbot's wife (in memoriam), and Bertha, the "woman" of Aldhere.
What is most refreshing in this particular book is that we get more sense of Anglo-Saxon history in the Heptarchy: the kingdom of Mercia, vs. East Anglia, etc. Much is made of the different systems of justice, not just between Christian and pagan, but more specifically between that of Eireann and Saxon. As I cannot speak to authority on either culture, I will simply say that there is a clear implication as to which is more enlightened (which will not come as a surprise).
The story benefits from a few different locations--the abbey, outside the abbey, and the farmhouse of 'Mad' Mul. There are some labyrinthine passages--both actual and metaphorical--that help keep the narrative alive. The arrival of Sigeric, high steward to Ealdwulf, King of East Anglia, provides a bit of a jumpstart just as things start to lag a bit, as does a murder just before the end of the book.
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