This is the sequel to Dissolution and I enjoyed it just as much – am now well and truly hooked on this series! I hope C.J. Sansom is young and has a long writing career ahead of him
Set in 1540, during the hottest summer of the century and three years after the events in Dissolution, Matthew Shardlake is involved with two investigations and it’s a race against time. In one, a young girl is accused of murdering her cousin – her uncle Joseph believes her innocent but she refuses to speak. And although Shardlake had fallen out of favour with Thomas Cromwell over the Scarnsea affair, the Earl has a new assignment for him, recovering the formula for Greek Fire, a legendary substance used by the Byzantines.
I was so pleased to see the former Brother Guy resettled in London as an apothecary, and also liked Shardlake’s new young sidekick Barak. Again, the historical detail and description is fascinating. You can just about smell and feel the heat of London in the summer of 1540. It made me want to revisit some historical sites, The Tower, St. Paul’s, Hampton Court, even the wreck of King Henry’s battleship, the Mary Rose… but in modern times – the 16th century was a cruel and dangerous time. I thoroughly enjoyed all the details that make the times come to life, both historical events as well as minute details about the false teeth of the time, or the fashion for women to blacken their teeth. This would be a great book to read on a visit to London.