Hemlock at Vespers

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The Sister Fidelma mysteries are set during the mid-seventh century A.D. mainly in her native Ireland.

Sister Fidelma is not simply a religieuse, a member of what we now call the Celtic Church whose conflict with Rome on matters of theology and social governance are well known. Apart from differences in rituals, the dating of Easter and the wearing of a dissimilar tonsure, celibacy was not widely practiced and many religious houses contained both sexes who raised their children to the continued service of God. Fidelma is also a qualified dá-laigh, or advocate of the law courts of Ireland, using the ancient Brehon Law system. In those days, in Ireland, a woman could be coequal with men in the professions and many women were lawyers and judges. There is even a record that a female judge, Brig, corrected, on appeal, a judgment given by a male judge, Sencha, on women’s rights.

Those who have followed Sister Fidelma’s adventures in the series of novels might be unaware that she made her debut in short story form. Four different stories featuring Fidelma appeared in separate publications in October 1993. The gratifying response to those stories precipitated Fidelma into the series of novels but also created a demand for even more short stories. The fifteen stories in this volume comprise the complete set of those published at the time of this writing.

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