Reviews

I absolutely loved the first book in this series, and couldn't wait to start this book.

This book follows Matthew Shardlake, as he is asked to investigate a murder by Joesph Wentworth, his niece is accused of murdering her little cousin, everything spirals from there and is set in the Tudor times.

I think this book could possibly be read without reading the first ALTHOUGH, events from the first book are mentioned.

I thought this book was slow-paced when it starts and takes a little while to get into but once I did again I quickly finished the book. Matthew Shardlake is such an interesting character and he has grown since the first book, but he does make some choices which were questionable at times, because of this I did prefer the 1st book.

The new character Barak took me some time to get used to, he was a little hit and miss at the first, I didn't like his personality but as the book went on, I really got to like him and would like to see where his story goes.

The plot was brilliant and took a few twists I wasn't expected, leading me to want to pick up the next book as soon as I can. C.J.Sansom is being an author I want to buy pretty much everything they have written. C.J.Sansom does have a degree in history and has included a historical note at the end of both books, telling you how the book events actually tie in with historical events during the Tudor times.

I do recommend checking out this series.

rebkni898's review against another edition

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adventurous informative mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

hmclint's review

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I do love the progression of Matthew’s character after the first book and all of the new characters but with references to the first book. I didn’t like this one as much as the first one though, I think the two story lines were a bit much, especially when some revelations were fairly obvious considering how much they were referenced. The historical note in the epilogue really show how creative C.J. Samson is though and I’m excited to see how the story develops in the next book.

eleni12's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.25

shellydennison's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

spestock's review

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dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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