November 30, 2009
The only thing wrong with The Sting of Justice by Cora Harrison is its book cover proclaiming it to be a "mystery of Medieval Ireland". It is in fact a mystery of Ireland in the Renaissance (the sixteenth century). Everything else about this book is just perfectly right and wonderful.
Mara, the heroine of The Sting of Justice, is progeny to the heroine of a wonderful series of mysteries by Peter Tremayne set in medieval (eighth century) Ireland. Mara of the sixteenth century is beautiful, brilliant, and a brehon (lawyer/legal expert/judge), as well as master of a law school and the betrothed of a king. Sister Fidelma of the Tremayne mysteries is brilliant, beautiful, a brehon and religieuse and sister to a king. Sister Fidelma solves mysteries according to her wit and to the ancient Irish law and customs and against the grasping hand of the Pope in Rome. The Roman Catholic church wanted to wipe out the ancient laws of Ireland and substitute the harsh, hierarchical, mysogynistic, and highly-bureaucratic rule of the Catholic church. In sixteenth century Ireland, Mara is facing the same threat to Irish custom and laws, but this time the threat comes from England with the goal of substituting the humanistic Irish laws with the harsh, bureaucratic, hierarchical, and mysogynistic laws of England. What the Roman Catholic Church began, England completed, and a mystery set in seventeenth century Ireland or later (up until the late twentieth century) could never have as its heroine a female lawyer with the authority, prestige, or autonomy of Sister Fidelma or Mara.
The Sting of Justice is a gem of a mystery, every facet glittering and sharp and clear. The plot is complex and intelligently woven; the characters are diverse, compelling, and believable; and the landscape of the west coast of Ireland in autumn is breathtakingly portrayed, as tantalizing as the best travel writing. Mara is a wise lawyer dedicated to the teaching of her very young charges with the nature and application of Irish law. She has a marvelous dog, a splendid horse, great clothes, an adoring lover, and a wonderful cook. Living her life through reading the book is a pleasure. The subtlety and intelligence of her thoughts raise the pleasure to a level of intellectual satisfaction.
I loved the mixing of actual laws from ancient Ireland with the facts raised by the mystery itself. Each chapter begins with an extract from ancient law and the action in the ensuing chapter ties in with the legal precept presented in the extract. When a wealthy silver mine owner is killed by a swarm of bees, legal issues of responsibility, the nature of the debt incurred by the death of the man, and the varying degrees of culpability and punishment are all discussed in terms of ancient law and custom. Related legal questions of inheritance, debt and loans, "satire" (slander or defamation), torts (damages caused by the silver mine), and marriage and divorce are also amply dissected and discussed under the applicable Irish laws, and under the laws of the overbearing neighbor, England. Reading this novel is revisiting the best that law school offered (the interesting case law) without the worst (exams).
I recommend The Sting of Justice as a perfect complement to the Sister Fidelma mysteries and as a stand-alone pleasure of reading. Now will someone with the talent of Tremayne and Harrison write a series featuring a modern-day descendant of Fidelma/Mara? I suggest Sinead O'Casey, Dublin lawyer/sleuth/beauty and possessor of a brilliant mind, quick wit, fine kitchen, and pleasant lover: add in a good plot and you've got a winner I look forward to reading. Until then, I'll be reading more of Cora Harrison and her unshakable sleuth, Mara.
Per FTC rules, the book I reviewed here was a review copy received from the publisher.
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