Reviews

I read Ellis Peter’s Brother Cadfael books in the 90s and this is in the time of Henry Tudor so positively modern! The plot is. Implement and the story feels dense; a lot happens in these pages.

ellatea's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

pilgrimike's review against another edition

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mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

awebofstories's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

aesweole's review against another edition

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mysterious

3.75

natnatboom's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

fullybooked22's review against another edition

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adventurous dark informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

3.5

i love a murder mystery and a historical fiction so having a mix of both was a definite win.

I found the context of the dissolution of the monasteries incredibly interesting, I have a surface knowledge of the events but a deeper exploration into the impacts on the daily faith of individuals was really intriguing. It was very atmospheric, the setting but also general time period was nicely explored

I thought Shardlake was a fascinating protagonist, a reasonably morally grey character who becomes progressively aware of the troubling motivations of those he is working for. His relationship with Mark and Alice were nicely explored and offered moments of him having questionable motives.

i do think the book could have benefitted from being a bit shorter as the pacing was occasionally a little slow and while Shardlake’s logical accumulation of knowledge was very satisfying his preference for sharing this with everyone around him was a little confusing at times

Overall i found it very entertaining and will definitely be checking out other books in this series

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