Act of Mercy

I enjoyed Act of Mercy by Peter Tremayne which was a "whodunnit" set in 7th Century Ireland. Sister Fidelma is on a sea pilgrimage to a shrine in Iberia to contemplate her commitment to the Church or whether the law is more important to her. She is an advocate of the law courts and tasked with solving legal issues and when her fellow pilgrims start getting murdered, she must use her skills to solve the murders. Her work is complicated by an encounter with a former lover and now pilgrim on board the vessel. It was a good crime story, but what I found even more interesting was the author's Historical Note before the story which explains the history of the Christian Church in Ireland and how progressive the Church and the legal system was in Ireland at that time. Without this information, the story might have been harder to understand. It is then unfortunate for Ireland that the Roman church and eventually the English eventually eroded the Irish independence. Perhaps if the reverse had occurred regarding the Church, we might have a better Christian church today. 31/2/5