Scales of Retribution

Starred review from April 25, 2011
The threat of Henry VIII's English army looms over Ireland in Harrison's outstanding sixth historical featuring Mara, "the Brehon" (or judge) for her community of the Burren in the west of Ireland (after 2010's Eye of the Law). With her royal husband, King Turlough Donn, away battling the earl of Kildare in Limerick, Mara survives a difficult pregnancy to deliver a premature but healthy boy. While Mara is still recovering from her ordeal, the unpopular local physician, Malachy, whose estranged 14-year-old daughter, Nuala, assisted in the birth of Mara's son, dies of poisoning. The arrival of a young legal scholar who could handle the inquiry into Malachy's death gives Mara the chance to step back and regain her strength, but she has misgivings about entrusting the peace of her people to a stranger. Few will anticipate the solution. Harrison combines meticulous period detail with a crafty puzzle and a sage, empathetic sleuth.

June 1, 2011

When Malachy the physician is poisoned, new mother and local judge Mara (Eye of the Law) must investigate in this 16th-century Irish historical.

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2011
When the fiercely independent kingdoms of western Ireland are threatened by the earl of Kildare, an agent of Henry VIII, King Turlough of the Burren rounds up a group of friends unwilling to accept English rule. Leaving his wife, Brehon Mara, to preside over his kingdom is not normally a risky proposition, given the fact that she is the only female Brehon (judge and investigating magistrate) in Ireland. Mara is, however, currently heavy with child. Experiencing premature labor, she summons Malachy the physician, but he is nowhere to be found. After giving birth to a healthy son, Mara learns that Malachy has been poisoned, and suspects abound. Determined to bring the culprit to justice, Mara expands her investigation, endangering the life of her infant son in the process. Harrison, like Peter Tremayne in his Sister Fidelma series, provides a superior brand of historical mystery that underscores the uniquely independent position of women in medieval and early Renaissance Ireland.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)