Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Book Report: Mysteries of Medieval Ireland



   

I like my mysteries with a little "value added"--that is, I like to be learning a bit about an unfamiliar time and place while enjoying a good novel. These books, part of a series called the Burren Mysteries by Cora Harrison, are just about perfect as far as I am concerned.

They are set in the early 1500s on the Burren, on the western seaboard of Ireland. So far, I've learned about the stony fields there (look at the beautiful album of Burren photos on the Cora Harrison website to see what they look like); bits of the Gaelic language; a fair bit about Brehon--early Irish--law, which is very different from English law; and I have come to admire Mara, the female judge and heroine of the tales--I love the way her mind works!

6 comments:

Deb from WhatsInMyAttic said...

Thanks for the tip! They are going on my TBR list. By the way...I hit "delete" rather than "publish" due to my tiny phoneand fat fingers on the last comment you put on my blog. Apparently there is no retrieval from this fatal error! Didn't want you to think I was not publishing you on purpose!!! Thanks for all your sweet comments over at my place...they are always appreciated!

becky said...

I think my grams might enjoy these books- she loves everything Irish! I am anxiously awaiting my book order from Amazon!
:)

JC said...

Since my heritage does come from Ireland, I might have to read these two. Thanks ...

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

What a great way to describe the way I feel about my fav mysteries -- 'with a little value added'. These sound really good. MY TBR list is growing longer by the minute!

Sandy ~~~ said...

Hmmm...sounds really interesting and my daughter is passionate about reading, history and Ireland...a perfect tri-fecta! I will forward this to her.

Danni said...

I love a good book review! And these look wonderful. We visited Ireland (and The Burren) last May - what an incredibly beautiful place.
I'll be adding these to my book list! Thanks, Clairz!! :-)