I found this story fascinating and a different theme to any others I have read about the Tudor period.
It is 1537, a time of revolution that sees the greatest changes in England since 1066. Henry VIII has proclaimed himself Supreme Head of the Church. The country is waking up to savage new laws, rigged trials and the greatest network of informers it has ever seen. And unde the orders of Thomas Cromwell, a team of commissioners is sent throughout the country to investigate the monasteries. Therebcan only be one outcome: dissolution.
But on the Sussex coast, at the monasterynof Scarnsea, events have spiralled out of control. Cromwell's commissioner, Robin Singleton, has been found dead, his head severed from his body. His horrific murder is accompanied by equally sinister acts of sacrilege.
Matthew Shardlake , lawyer and long-time supporter of Reform, has been sent by Cromwell to uncover the truth behind the dark happenings at Scarnsea. But investigation soon forces Shardlake to question everything that he hears and everything he intrinsically believes.....
The story has a number of twists nd turns and a surprising denouement.