This was a strong thirty-sixth entry in the Sister Fidelma Mystery series, it had that element that I was wanting and enjoyed the overall experience of this. It had that mystery element that I was wanting and enjoyed the overall feel of this world and characters. The characters continued to feel like they were meant in this time-period. It continued the story perfectly and I was engaged from start to finish and glad this continued the series. Peter Tremayne wrote this so well and was glad I was able to read this and wanted to read more.

I thank NetGalley and Headline for an advance reader copy of “Grave of the Lawgiver.” All opinions and comments are my own.

Read “Grave of the Lawgiver” for a continuation of the Fidelma and Eadulf story, and as addition to the series. Other than that, it’s pretty much just a convoluted and lengthy recap of early church history. Taking Fidelma away from home doesn’t do her any favors, and it’s evident in the pages of this book.

There is a murder mystery here, but the “action” pretty much takes place off-stage. Eventually, we have to be content with a scene whereby Fidelma Explains It All; unhappiness and disturbed minds have been present since time immemorial, as “Grave of the Lawgiver” shows. The story here is interesting for the history buffs in the crowd, but slow-going for mystery fans.

This wasn't as good as I expected it to be with others in the series being much better. I found it repetitive, with lots of explanations repeated more than once unnecessarily. I understand that a lot of it was due to the difference in languages between some of the characters, but it felt like padding in places. There were a lot of characters to remember which at times I found confusing. Other readers might not find that. The story itself was interesting with the local lawgiver being killed and his niece going missing. Eadulf and Fidelma arrived home just afterwards and undertook an investigation in to what had happened which led them through different territories.

Peter Tremayne’s long-running Sister Fidelma series of Celtic mysteries has now reached the 36th book, 'The Grave of the Lawgiver'. It is AD 673 and Fidelma accompanies her Angle husband, Eadulf, back to his hometown of Seaxmund’s Ham in the Kingdom of the East Angles. He hopes to visit his family, a family that he seemingly abandoned following his conversion to Christianity (the New Faith). Although Eadulf has been happily settled in Ireland with Fidelma and their son, he cannot ignore this yearning to make peace and return to visit the friends and landscapes of his youth. This starting point is to provide a source of conflict between the two main protagonists as Fidelma now feels she is the foreigner and is desperate to return to her own home.

However, in true Tremayne style, they arrive in East Anglia to find Eadulf’s uncle, Athelnoth, the lawgiver of the title, murdered, his house burned to the ground and Eadulf’s sister, Wulfrun, missing. Eadulf is forced to take a lead in trying to solve the murder, although assisted by Fidelma and both helped and thwarted by a cast of pagan and Christian locals – the thane, the king’s bodyguard, clerics, innkeepers and farmers – all with varying motivations and vested interests. The investigation takes our intrepid pair across the marshy landscape of East Anglia, staying at local monasteries in the countryside, and inns in the bustling coastal towns.

Against this domestic backdrop, bigger events are taking place. Following the Synod of Whitby ten years earlier which accepted the Christian customs of Rome, a meeting of all the Angle and Saxon kings and bishops is taking place under a new Archbishop of Canterbury, Theodorus, whose aim is to unite the kingdoms under one Christian creed. As Theodorus has been appointed by Vitalian, the bishop of Rome, it is not difficult to predict which creed he will suggest. If this is accepted, it would mean the end of Hibernian Christianity in Britain and Fidelma could find herself in danger if she doesn’t leave.

As always with Tremayne’s novels, the personal and the political collide and I really enjoyed the richness of information about the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, with their histories and conflicts, as well as about the influence of Rome as Christianity becomes more established and Celtic Christianity starts to decline. I also enjoyed the tensions between Fidelma and Eadulf which continue throughout the whole of the novel, and we are led to wonder if their relationship will withstand the test of this new challenge. The murder mystery itself was somehow less satisfying which is unusual in Tremayne’s work. The resolution stretched credulity, and the motivations didn’t quite work for me. However, I really enjoyed my romp through East Anglia and Tremayne’s skilful handling of a complicated historical context of shifting allegiances and rapid change.