Hemlock at Vespers

Some of these short stories are shorter than others, but the volume as a whole contains something for everybody: unrequited love, medieval Church politics, power trippers, vengeance...etc. Tremayne weaves in medieval superstition ("Our Lady of Death"), religious allegory ("At the Tent of Holofernes"), and politics between the Irish Catholic church and Rome (in the seventh century). Favorites include "Hemlock at Vespers", "The High King's Sword", "The Poisoned Chalice" and the relatively concise "Invitation to a Poisoning." In this collection Tremayne displays the variety of scenarios he manages to invent in Fidelma's world, although Fidelma's character takes a back seat in most of the stories. Most interesting is the personal aspect of show more "At the Tent of Holofernes", where we get a bit of a look at Fidelma's life in the past. Fans of Brother Eadulf will be disappointed by his absence, but Tremayne explains the chronology in the Foreword, which is helpful for those who follow the series order. show less

Hemlock at Vespers is a collection of shot stories featuring Sister Fidelma. It is listed as the 9th book in the series, but the stories cover a range of her history. All of them are without her partner, Eadulf.

I felt there wasn’t enough character development, so being familiar with the character of Sister Fidelma is valuable, but not critical. Another shortcoming is that every story has to repeat some of the basic information, such as that she is a high-ranking member of the court and has certain rights. Despite those shortcomings, the mysteries are good and Peter Tremayne tells the stories well.

A collection of stories about Sister Fidelma. Inevitably there is a fair amount of repetition when introducing the character in different stories, but I still enjoyed them, especially the last one, “Our Lady of Death“, which was actually quite atmospheric and creepy as a possible ghost story.

An enjoyable collection of short mysteries. The Sister Fidelma series originated as four short stories, the original four stories are included in this collection along with 11 others.

My only complaint, is that by reading all the short stories consecutively, it becomes somewhat repetitive being reintroduced to Sister Fidelma in each story. By necessity the mysteries are less complicated in order to be resolved in the short story format.

The collection is presented chronologically so it fills in some details of Sister Fidelma’s life. The short stories, as in the books, are intelligent and explain aspects of life in and around Ireland during the seventh century while remaining accessible and enjoyable to read as a non-scholar.

This is a collection of many many short stories of Sister Fidelma. It is one of my least favourite Sister Fidelma stories. Most of these "mysteries" are resolved in as little as 20 pages. Though the situations are different, her deductions are fast and firm. One just gets comfortable with the new situation when "BANG" it is solved. There is little story development in this collection and I got bored with each succeeding story.

I was happy when the last story was finished.

sister fidelma, love to read about her. this one had 15 stories and @ the end of the book i pretty much could guess the outcome or the solution.loved to read about ireland's customs ect. in those days (and comparison to saxon etc) good

Early days for Sister Fidelma,a dalaigh, or judge advocate, in 7th Century Ireland as she demonstrates her legal acumen to solve crimess and resolve conflicts.