The intrepid Sister Fidelma is at sea-aboard the "Barnacle Goose
"on pilgrimage to the Shrine of St. James and afloat a thousand of
her own musings, religious and secular. Before the seventh-century
sleuth ("The Monk Who Vanished", 2001, etc.) can sort through her
conflicting professional and personal roles, she's overwhelmed by
bickering among disagreeable shipmates and the dumbfounding
reappearance after ten years of her first love. Once a dashing
warrior who cruelly betrayed Fidelma's girlish heart, Cian now
affects religious garb that hasn't curbed his womanizing ways.
Indeed, he seems the center of a high-seas web of wanton lust that
will leave bodies piled up to the water-line. Investigator Fidelma
can't avoid being drawn into the wake of questions following the
disappearance of Sister Muirgel during a storm: How could such a
seasick young woman have had the strength to haul herself on deck
to be swept over? But what respectable murderer would have left
behind her bloody robe? Virtually every pilgrim aboard this ship of
fools has been entangled with the promiscuous daughter of a nasty
noble; now Fidelma must keep her wooden world safe enough from
shipwreck and Saxon slavers to investigate. The sea voyage is epic
and some of the cast grandiose, but the scale here is mock-heroic,
the sins petty, and the murderer predictable. Though Fidelma
emerges as more human than before, the loose ends in the rigging
are realistic in all the wrong ways, especially when clearing
suspects relies so much on looks of blank astonishment. (Kirkus
Reviews)
Super sleuth Sister Fidelma returns in the eighth historical
mystery by Peter Tremayne, acclaimed author of THE MONK WHO
VANISHED, VALLEY OF THE SHADOW and many more. PRAISE FOR ACT OF
MERCY: 'Wonderfully evocative' The Times When Sister Fidelma sets
out on a pilgrimage in the autumn of AD 666, her main preoccupation
is to reflect on her commitment to the religious life and her
relationship with the Saxon monk, Eadulf, whom she has left behind.
Complications arise during the first night on the ship when one of
the pilgrims is apparently washed overboard. The discovery of a
blood-stained robe raises the question of murder and Fidelma finds
herself having to focus all her abilities on solving the mystery.
Death dogs the tiny band of pilgrims in the close confines of the
ship, but is not until the Holy Shrine is almost reached that the
amazing truth is uncovered... What readers are saying about ACT OF
MERCY: 'I never tire of reading about the escapades of this very
self-opinionated young woman and her interactions with some very
strange characters! Another great read!' 'So many twists I could
not put it down! Pilgrims and pirates - Fidelma has trouble finding
the truth' 'An intriguing glimpse of Fidelma's interior life and
past'
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