Meanwhile, Shardlake is given an intriguing legal case by an old servant of Queen Catherine Parr, which brings Shardlake into the frontline of the naval battle.

Meanwhile Matthew Shardlake is given an intriguing legal case by an old servant of Queen Catherine Parr. Then there is the sequel, which I think would have Nicholas Overton as the protagonists and the children that we have seen grow up during this series. The stories, of course, collide, but could have occurred without The Mary Rose – since it was the characters that linked the stories, not where they were. Before I jumped into this series, I honestly had never heard of it, except when people mentioned these books in posts that I asked my followers what they are reading. For all ebook purchases, you will be prompted to create an account or login with your existing HarperCollins username and password.

The twist, when it comes, after what is an age and then some, is good and the story then shifts into at least a moderate gear. In 2018, BBC Radio 4 aired a full-cast adaptation of the novel, dramatised by Colin MacDonald, with Justin Salinger starring as Shardlake. With a feeble internal whoop of joy, I finally finished this incredibly over-written novel which at least had the virtue of picking up the pace in the last quarter.

Shardlake works on commission initially from Thomas Cromwell in Dissolution and Dark Fire and then Thomas Cranmer in Sovereign and Revelation. London” and continues through to the end of a very hot July and the Battle of the Solent between England and France. From scenic descriptions to the more gruesome accounts of horrific events, Sansom takes us on a trip to the past that we do not want to leave. Matthew has taken on a case as a favour to the Queen (Catherine Parr) to look into a case involving a ward of the courts and despite the country being on the brink of invasion must travel south to Hampshire to investigate. They could solve mysteries in the Elizabethan era into the Stewarts, bridging the gap between the two dynasties.

They will be engrained in my brain for a long time, which is a sign of how delightful Sansom’s writing style truly is, especially in this series.