The papists will use every means to present us from building the christian commonwealth, and so God’s blood I will use every means to overcome them.’ First published on the 25th of October. 2012, this was to be a major standalone novel from C.J. Sansom. Utilizing his ever expansive historical knowledge once more, it this time concerns itself with an alternate telling of the events following the second world war. Establishing a somewhat darker tone to what he had previously, it manages to convey some grander ideas and themes overall. I don’t recall how this series got on my radar, but when a good friend starting reading, and loving, the series I had to bump it up on my “to read” pile. Thomas Cromwell, Henry's vicar general, calls a lawyer, Matthew Shardlake, to his office and tells him to go to the monastery, find the murderer and persuade the monastery to surrender its property to the king. I enjoyed reading this historical fiction book, recommended by GR friend Ingrid. The book is set in 1537 England. Henry VIII has left the Catholic church and the country is divided between those faithful to the new Church of England, with Henry VIII as its head, and the Catholic church. A royal commissioner is murdered in the monastery of Scarnsea on the southeast coast of England.

To prove his loyalty to Henry the 8th Cromwell is fervently enforcing the recent First Act of Succession (1536) dissolving as many monasteries as possible, within the confines of the new law. He is confiscating their lands and gold baubles to help bolster the King’s treasury. St. Donatus is one of the larger monasteries all of whom hope to survive the purge. Although anybody in the know realizes that Henry will not be happy with just a few when he can pass a law, Second Act of Succession (1539), that will bring them all down. Right now it is 1537 and Shardlake can offer some assurances to the abbot that the monastery can still be saved.

Dominion

Shardlake with his rather comely (male) assistant in tow arrives at the monastery to discover that there are more problems than just one murdered man. Needless to say everyone is on edge knowing that the King’s representative needs very little cause to close the monastery and confiscate their lands. Shardlake finds a nest of barely repentant monks still clinging to their idols and traditions. It is too much to expect that people can just flip a switch and do away with beliefs that have sustained them their whole lives. The books cover several historical events, such as the Dissolution of the monasteries (1536–1541), the Royal Progress to York (1541), the Battle of the Solent and the sinking of the Mary Rose (1545), the burning at the stake of Anne Askew (1546), the publication of The Lamentation of a Sinner (1547) , Kett's Rebellion (1549), and the several marriages of king Henry VIII. I very rarely bother with crime novels. The genre feels overdone and, well, a little bit boring. To me it all looks like the same regurgitated story. I blame the terrible police dramas on television; they make me yawn when I see how stupid they are. I did a two year course in forensic science, and it never ceases to amaze me how the writers of these television shows think that wearing gloves will therefore mean that the crime scene is not contaminated by the otherwise exposed investigators. Never mind the fact that they are trampling over evidence, leaving their own hairs and jumping to ridiculous conclusions based upon preliminary testing. These things are horribly inaccurate to the professional field; they are always forensically inaccurate. So, regardless of how this is handled in modern crime books, I always avoid them to avoid similar annoyance. This, however, isn’t a modern crime book. Tamasin Reedbourne – a confectioner and junior servant of queen Catherine Howard, who after whose execution marries Barak.

The six first books are set during the reign of Henry VIII, while the seventh, Tombland, takes place two years after the king's demise. Sansom has said that he plans to write further Shardlake novels taking the lawyer into the reign of Elizabeth I. [1] Description [ edit ] The author's depiction of Tudor times is second to none. Daily living and all its struggles are injected into this story without becoming info-dumps or narrations of boring detail. Cromwell makes a couple of brief appearances, and he is realistically written, if not as sympathetically as in Mantel's novels. Kanter, Jake (8 January 2023). "Disney+ Lines Up Series Adaptation Of CJ Sansom's Shardlake Tudor Detective Novels". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved 4 January 2023. Set in 16th century England during the dissolution of the monasteries, we’re told that the four-part mini-series will be “drenched in mystery, suspense and deception.”Mechler, Anita (10 February 2022). "CJ Sansom Wins Diamond Dagger Award". Library Journal . Retrieved 19 January 2023. Originally published in April, 2003, this was to be the book that began the Matthew Shardlake series. Setting up the environment for this collection of historical mystery novels, it helped establish the tone and the period. In 2012 it also saw a radio dramatization on BBC4, as it was adapted for a well received radio-play. He is described as an intelligent and energetic guy who speaks very little. He is simple and a man of rules. He is a firm believer of social reforms and that is why he becomes the chosen aide for these secret missions. Though after his first mission he decided to take up simple cases where in the innocent is exempted from the clutches of law, He is again pulled into a high profile assignment by the King Henry VII. In this book Shardlake has to face more dangers and death threats as this time the destination is not simple. He and Barak the assistant appointed by Cromwell himself find themselves with lot many hurdles before they end up unravelling the mystery. In this book the humanitarian and compassionate side of Shardlake can be understood as he tries to help a small girl accused of killing her cousin. He puts his heart and soul in helping her just because he feels sorry for her and she is too young to be punished hard. I did question the phrase “runcible peas”, (as in Edward Lear's The Owl and the Pussycat poem which mentioned a “runcible spoon” many years later. (I also discovered that a runcible spoon sounds similar to my favourite piece of multi-purpose cutlery, the splade or spork, depending on your preference. But I digress.)