Current mood:

dude, crime-fighting nun!

So I'm kind of in love with a new series.
A couple Christmases ago, Mom gave me a little paperback titled The Haunted Abbot by Peter Tremayne, subtitled "A Mystery of Ancient Ireland." Not being much into historical fiction or mysteries at the time, I pretty much ignored it.

Since my involvement in the SCA I have acquired an interest in things medieval, and, remembering the book, started reading it last night.

HOLY SHIT. IT IS ALL FLAVOURS OF WIN.

It's set in the middle of the seventh century A.D., and the main character is a lawyer nun who solves mysteries and fights crime with the help of a monk sidekick. And it's ALL BASED IN FACT. Apparently the Dark Ages of Europe was a golden period of enlightenment in Ireland, with universities and all kinds of advances, and women were afforded a lot of power in both government and the Christian church (which was brand-spanking new), even serving in high-ranking positions as judges and bishops. So the main character, Sister Fidelma, is super-educated and highly respected in her field. The author is a real-life authority on medieval history and old Irish languages (among other things), so pretty much everything is 100% factual, aside from the characters and plots.

I'm now a little over halfway through it (and I do NOT finish books this quickly, my attention span rarely allows it), and bought two more at the little half-price bookstore in the mall: Act of Mercy and Smoke in the Wind. It's extremely entertaining and goes down very easily, plus with all the little factoids on Irish history that invariably crop up, it's educational, too!