The Sister Fidelma Compendium: A Reader’s Guide to the Sister Fidelma Mysteries of Peter Tremayne

"FIDELMANIA!" - Livres Hebdo, Paris, May 2006

"[Fidelma]... cannot be categorized as just genre fiction. It is literature. We can compare it to Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose." - Lucha Crovi, La Libertà, Italy

From the Foreword by Peter Tremayne, creator of The Sister Fidelma Mysteries series:

"This tome is not only about the facts of the “Sister Fidelma Age and Culture,” but will help the discerning reader — or even those who just enjoy following the adventures — in navigating the travels and travails of Fidelma of Cashel with her faithful companion, Brother Eadulf of Seaxmund’s Ham, of the South Folk of East Anglia."

For true Fidelmaniacs (as diehard devotees of the character, her creator, and the series are known), a book such as this is long overdue, and its pages will doubtless be quickly dog-eared by both longtime and newly-initiated readers of Sister Fidelma and her mysterious-murder tales. Ideally this will serve as both reference and tribute to an author whose works are universally read (in a plethora of languages) and loved.

Sister Fidelma is not simply a religieuse, a former member of the community of St Brigid of Kildare. She is also a qualified dálaigh, or advocate of the ancient law courts of Ireland. The Sister Fidelma Mysteries are set mainly in Ireland during the mid-7th century AD.

PETER TREMAYNE is the fiction writing pseudonym of the Celtic scholar and author Peter Berresford Ellis, an historian, literary biographer, and novelist who has published over 100 books to date under his own name and that of his pseudonyms Peter Tremayne and Peter MacAlan. He has also published over 100 short stories. His non-fiction books, articles and academic papers have made him acknowledged as one of the foremost authorities on Celtic history and culture. Under his Tremayne pseudonym he is the author of the international bestselling Sister Fidelma Mystery series. His work has appeared in 25 languages.

Some chapter topics in this new book include: Was Sister Fidelma a Real Historical Person?; The History We Weren’t Told; Why Fidelma is Not a Nun: A Review of Fidelma’s Character; Brehon Law: The Background to The Sister Fidelma Mysteries; The Novels – Synopses (including Principal Character listings for each title); Chronology of The Sister Fidelma Mysteries; Historic Cashel; "Fidelma’s Rock?" Not Quite...; Frequently Asked Questions; Peter Tremayne: Murderer–Detective–Defendant–Judge–Jury–Executioner; Pronunciation Guide; Fidelma: A Model Lawyer; Fidelma’s World (Map of the novels’ locales – Ireland & abroad).

Illustrated throughout, including: Assorted illustrations from The Sister Fidelma Mysteries Graphic Novels; Conceptual illustration of the Royal Fortress of King Colgú atop The Rock of Cashel during the Sister Fidelma novels, ca. 7th century (exclusive to this book); How Does Peter Tremayne Murder His Victims in the Sister Fidelma Mysteries? (pie-chart graph); Attendees of 7 different Féile Fidelmas in Cashel, and much more.

It is the editor’s hope that this work will sit table-side, bedside, wherever-side the reader chooses to devour the dozens of Sister Fidelma novels and short stories penned by one of the world’s leading Irish historiographers – ever at-the-ready should some question arise.

Extensive information on Sister Fidelma, her author, and much more may be found on the website of The International Sister Fidelma Society at www.sisterfidelma.com.