Cora Harrison presents Mara, Irish brehon judge of the sixteenth century, with a tangled knot of murder of another brehon for one of her husband Turlogh's Irish kingdoms. Could the murderer be an ambitious man who wished to succeed the murdered man and who had been involved in treasonous activities on behalf of the Tudors? Or one of the five men convicted in the murdered man's court? Where does the young widow of the murdered man fit in or the senile former brehon? Filled with the curiosities of Irish traditional law this is a fascinating historical mystery.

Western Ireland in the 16th century. It is a land of small kingdoms and each one has its own ruler and judges (Brehon).

The Brehon of the Burren, Mara, is married to the king and goes to see a trial in which a new Brehon, O’Doran, hands down unduly harsh penalties for what are, she considers, trivial offences.

O’Doran has not made a good impression. In his first outing he appears to have alienated the very people he must live amongst, not least of whom is the nephew of the retired Brehon, who has travelled back from England with the expectation of becoming the new Brehon.

O’Doran’s body is found stuffed into a lobster pot with his throat slit and Mara sets out to investigate his murder. There are many suspects and the book takes us on a journey of twists and turns before the truth is told.

This is the fourteenth Burren book and the author keeps us entertained throughout. At first, I was totally bewildered by the sheer number of unfamiliar Irish names which were thrown at us at the beginning of the book. It might have helped if I had read any of the previous Burren books, then I would have known a little more of the scenario.

As it was, the book was able to stand alone. Not a great book, but an interesting read and worthy of a 3 star rating.

Mr Bumblebee

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of this book to review.