Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #222 in Books
• Published on: 2007-03-16
• Released on: 2007-03-16
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

Independent
'Between them, Sansom and Starkey have the 16th century licked.'

Sunday Times
'A parchment turner, and a regal one at that.'

Independent on Sunday
It's deeper, stronger and subtler than most novels in this genre
(including Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose) . . . `

Customer Reviews

Another Excellent Shardlake Mystery!!
Sovereign is set in 1541, during the King Henry VIII Progress to the North, an area of the country where his reign and religous reforms are unpopular, and its immediate aftermath.

Travelling in the Progress, is lawyer, Matthew Shardlake, under instructions from Archbishop Cranmer,to see that a prisoner is brought safely from York to the Tower of London for interrogation. Travelling with Shardlake, is his assistant, Jack Barak.

Upon his arrival in York, a glazier is murdered, and as Shardlake is near the scene of the crime, and hears the glazier's dying words, he becomes embroiled in a deep mystery. It soon becomes apparent that someone wants the Lawyer dead, before he can investigate any further into the glazier's last bizarre utterings.

I found this book a fantastic read. The attention to detail, and characterisation is second to none. You feel as if you are right there amongst the people of this turbulent era. The mixture of fictional and real characters in the storyline is very well done, also. As the story progresses you think one person is the murderer, then another. It was one of those rare books that I did not want to end. I would highly recommend this book.

Predictable
I had figured the plot out from about half way through, it's a blindingly obvious whodunnit and I'm not sure I have the patience to read the other two from this series that I have sat on my shelf - I'll probably take them on a plane or train journey.

Having said all of that there are some lovely historical nuggets in there, attention to detail of the places, people, language and so forth is wonderful and the characters are also likeable and believable.

If you are not into history, and you like a challenging murder mystery then I wouldn't bother.

could have been much better
immediate thoughts on ploughing through this epic, not very entertaining, book, was - I won't bother with any more by this author, thank you. His editor should have suggested drastic pruning to make it a thriller, a whodunnit, not a day by day itinerary of the King's Great Progress. My biggest complaint though is that the book does not feature Henry VIII at all. He is incidental to the 'plot' even though it is his time, his Progress, his wife, his country. Somehow he has managed to be sidelined and this detracts from the book. Over written, desperately in need of pruning and a better 'whodunnit' story would have improved it no end. I have to assume that the reviewers who are quoted on the cover read a different version to me.