Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #56 in Books
• Published on: 2007-05-18
• Binding: Paperback
• 512 pages

Stella Duffy, The Guardian
... a strong and intelligent novel which, while it will certainly please historical crime fans, deserves a wider readership.

Stella Duffy, The Guardian
Sansom appears to have entirely beaten the second novel blues.

Sainsbury's Magazine, December 2004
Steeped in the sights, sounds and smells of one of the most fascinating periods in history...

Customer Reviews

Cracking follow-up
Matthew becomes more of an action hero than in the first novel, Dissolusion, as his life is threatened more frequently and intensly. However, he now has a dashing new assistant, Barak. There are two mysteries to solve. His own personal desires are also in need of attention. The pace of the novel is intense as he is under continual pressure from Lord Cromwell who is keen to save his own head.
The atmosphere of Tudor England is evoked with great skill and the reader experiences the vulnerabilities of all, from the lowest to the highest on the social ladder.
Some of the escapes from situations which Matthew and Barack become entwined in are quite fanciful, and will make better film (hopefully this will happen), than written word.
I enjoyed the first novel more, but this is a fantastic read. The plot is incredibly clever as the task Cromwell sets him has massive implications for the military power balance of a very tense Europe.

FABULOUS..............................................
I am rapidly becoming a fan of Matthew Shardlake!
This book is a worthy successor to "Dissolution".
Lord Cromwell, now Earl of Essex, is in a panic as he has promised to demonstrate a horrible substance which could prove to be the ultimate war weapon, to Henry VIII and as he is not in Henry's good books, his head is balancing on the block. However, the secret substance has gone missing and Cromwell is in a sweat.
He calls on Matthew to find it. Before long, our hero finds himself deep in dead bodies and mystery and up to his eyes in suspects.
He is ably assisted by Cromwells representative, Barak, and Guy the apothecary is back from the first book.
This is a very promising series and I look forward to it going on for a long time.
There has been talk of a TV series, with Kenneth Branagh in the role of Matthew, well it cannot come quickly enough for me.
I couldn't lay this book down.
READ IT!!!!!!

Supoib
I was delighted to find another historial murder mystery author and this book did not dissapoint. The only annoying point was I realised about a quarter of the way through I had picked up the second in the series although its great there is a series and I can read the rest. An un-putdownable page turner one is cast into Tudor London with its tense politics and huge rich/poor divide. The descriptions of the city and characters are so evocative I was hard pressed to get up and make a cup of tea. A brilliantly drawn out suspense with an unexpected ending, even with a history degree I was expecting the 'goodies' to triumph completely, a la Suzanna Gregory, its a riveting read only not recommended if you do not have a good long period of time to devote utterly to it.