Customer Reviews
Great story and characters! A must for lovers of history - By: Philip Walker, 20 Sep 2008 
I bought this off Amazon after my Sister raved about it. I am interestedin the Dissolution of the Monasteries anyway so I thought I would give it a try.
To begin with, it is hard to keep up with the many different characters, but it doesn't take long for it all to come together, & it works really well.
Setin a monastery during the Dissolution, with Shardlake, a hunchback lawyer is sent to investigate a Murder, & also to persuade the Monastery to dissolve voluntarily. Shardlake finds himselfin the middle of sin & murder!
I really enjoyed this book, & have bought the rest of the series!
Gripping - By: P. A. Swinburne, 07 Sep 2008 
What a corker of a book ! gripping storyline & one of those rare books where you wish to get to the end for the result but dont want it to end.
I now understand the word "unputdownable" As well as a whodunnit ,it also stimulated me to research more into the structure & function of monastaries & also the politics of Early Tudor times & the reformation.
Should be on a school curriculum for reading to stimulate an interestin our past history
The sequel "DarkFire" is also compelling , so now I'm about to get my teeth ino "Sovereign"
Tudor Thriller - By: Lisa Henshaw, 30 Aug 2008 This book is not as dry as it soundsin the product description! You'd have to be a pretty bad writer to make anything to do with Henry VIII boring but this book adds a new twist.
Our "hero", Matthew Shardlake, is a hunchback lawyer that works for Cromwell around the time that Henry's third wife, Jane Seymour, diedin childbirth. But Henry's problems are merely a background, the novel is concerned with the murder of one of Cromwell's officersin a monastery which Shardlake is sent to investigate. The description of lifein the monastery & the life of the lay people that livein the nearby village is fascinating & just as interesting as the mystery itself. The characters are developed with the story & there's even a little romance.
This book is perfect for anyone remotely interestedin this periodin history. I shall be buying the second novel & look forward to learning more about Mr Shardlake.
Don't judge a book by its cover - Sadly disappointed - By: Hard To Please, 19 Aug 2008 
I was really looking forward to this book being a lover of Crime/Thirllers & Tudor history. I thought this would be right up my street & it seemed to be getting lots of good reviews on Amazon. Story surrounds Shardlake - lawyer & officer of Thomas Cromwell - who is sent to a monastery to investigate a murder. The book looked great & I began it with great excitement but I have to say I found it slow, dull, predictable & very put downable. Has some similarities to Name of the Rosein atmosphere (but obviously not as good) but I won't be reading any more of his.
Fantastic historical crime novel - totally unmissable - By: Ismelda, 09 Aug 2008 The weaving of historical detail into a complex storyline is masterful & I found this novel totally compelling. Sansom is expert at evoking the sounds & smells of Londonin the 1500s, & developing his characters as the story progresses. His use of language is rich & expressive,in some ways reminiscent of Hardy & Dickens, but with great pace & clever crime thriller plot. What really impressed me was the way that the reader's sympathy for the characters portrayed - including Shardlake - wavers & changes through the story, making them much more convincing. I read this straight through, then rushed off to buy Dark Fire.
