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Suffer Little Children
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Plot Summary of Suffer Little Children
"Suffer Little Children
Peter Tremayne
Signet, 1995
ISBN: 0-451-19557-4

Sister Fidelma of Kildare is a dálaigh or legal advocate in the law courts of ancient Ireland. Her brother, Colgú is the tánaiste, or heir apparent to his cousin the king of Muman. Ancient Ireland was divided into five kingdoms with the kings of four of the kingdoms giving allegiance to to the fifth or High King of Ireland who oversaw this loose confederation of kingdoms.

It is the year 665 and Sister Fidelma is called home to Muman where she learns that the king is on his deathbed and her brother is about to become king. But times are bad with fever ravaging the people in the land and now a famous and saintly scholar, known as the Venerable Dacăn, has been murdered while working at the abbey of Ros Ailithir in the Kingdom of Muman.   Dacăn is from the neighboring kingdom of Laigin, whose new king is not on good terms with Muman. Further, there is a small territory, known as Osraige, that lies between Muman and Laigin. Osraige was taken from Laigin centuries ago by the High King and awarded to Muman in compensation for the murder of a subject of Muman in Laigin. Now the new king of Laigin is threatening war unless Osraige is returned to Laigin as compensation for the death of the Venerable Dacăn.

Tensions are high as Fidelma is dispatched to Ros Ailithir to try to solve the mystery of who really killed
Dacăn and why. But once at the abbey, Fidelma discovers numerous plots and intrigues as well as evidence that Dacăn himself may have been involved in more than scholarly research. Her challenge is to quickly get to the bottom of the various plots and intrigues and find the truth. Time is of the essence as the High King is preparing an Assembly to hear the case but, unless she can discover and present the truth about who killed Dacăn and why, war between Muman and Laigin will result as neither is willing to accept a simple judgment not backed by facts.
"

Chuck Nugent, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of Suffer Little Children
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 10%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 10%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 40%




Tone of story - very upbeat
How difficult to spot villain? - Difficult, but some clues given
Time/era of story: - middle ages
What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 70%
Kind of investigator - skilled citizen investigator
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot? - politics
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes

Main Character
Gender - Female
Profession/status: - a lawyer creature
Age: - 20's-30's
How much violence does he/she use? - none
Ethnicity/Race - British
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence - Very much smarter than other characters

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status: - Prince/Nobleman/King
Motive of antagonist - power

Setting
Europe Yes
European country: - Ireland

Style
Part of a series? Yes
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths
How many deaths? - 8 or more
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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Peter Tremayne Resident Scholar Profiles

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