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4.23 AVERAGE
4.23 AVERAGE
dark
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-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:
Yes
The brilliance of this work is that a man society automatically casts as a villain, as an outsider due to his disability is the most moral man among them.
Set in turbulent Tudor times, the society at large is hopeless. There is no social security. There's an awful, violent, paranoid man on the throne.
And then there's Shardlake. He goes about life trying to do the best he can. Trying to help where he can. Amongst the despair, we find hope through him. We find strength, and a total commitment to advocating for those who are unable to.
Guy Malton is also a stand out in these books and I always wish to read about him. He, thankfully,.features heavily in this book :)
Set in turbulent Tudor times, the society at large is hopeless. There is no social security. There's an awful, violent, paranoid man on the throne.
And then there's Shardlake. He goes about life trying to do the best he can. Trying to help where he can. Amongst the despair, we find hope through him. We find strength, and a total commitment to advocating for those who are unable to.
Guy Malton is also a stand out in these books and I always wish to read about him. He, thankfully,.features heavily in this book :)
It is the end of winter in 1543 and Henry is wooing Catherine Parr with the intention of making her his sixth wife. This is not popular with Archbishop Cramer as Parr is known to have sympathies to the reformist agenda.
Shardlake has agrees to take on the case of a lad who has been diagnosed as mad and who is in the asylum called Bedlam. People are starting to think that his mania will get him sentenced as a heretic.
On returning home later one evening he discovers a body in the fountain, this is his good friend Roger, and his throat has been cut. Shardlake pledges to Dorothy that he will find Roger's killer and bring him to justice. His initial investigation and the coroners inquiry raise suspicions within him that there is a lot more to the murder that he is being told, and he challenges the coroner after the hearing. He is summoned to Archbishop Cramer's office and is told that this is not the first murder that they have suppressed the details of as there is a suspicion that this will threaten Catherine Parr. Heving successfully avoided the political scheming recently, he is now right back in the middle of it.
So Shardlake begins his investigation, and as he does, he realises that these grisly murders are linked, and have a pattern that brings a chill to his heart. The race is on to find this murderer, before he kills again, but he is always one step ahead and is following Shardlake and his assistant Barak.
Sansom has done it again with this book. Not only do you have dramatic tension as they struggle to find a very clever killer, who knows so much about them, but there are political intrigues, personal conflicts and layers of stories in here. Nicely paced too, with an excellent climax as the events unfold at the end.
Shardlake has agrees to take on the case of a lad who has been diagnosed as mad and who is in the asylum called Bedlam. People are starting to think that his mania will get him sentenced as a heretic.
On returning home later one evening he discovers a body in the fountain, this is his good friend Roger, and his throat has been cut. Shardlake pledges to Dorothy that he will find Roger's killer and bring him to justice. His initial investigation and the coroners inquiry raise suspicions within him that there is a lot more to the murder that he is being told, and he challenges the coroner after the hearing. He is summoned to Archbishop Cramer's office and is told that this is not the first murder that they have suppressed the details of as there is a suspicion that this will threaten Catherine Parr. Heving successfully avoided the political scheming recently, he is now right back in the middle of it.
So Shardlake begins his investigation, and as he does, he realises that these grisly murders are linked, and have a pattern that brings a chill to his heart. The race is on to find this murderer, before he kills again, but he is always one step ahead and is following Shardlake and his assistant Barak.
Sansom has done it again with this book. Not only do you have dramatic tension as they struggle to find a very clever killer, who knows so much about them, but there are political intrigues, personal conflicts and layers of stories in here. Nicely paced too, with an excellent climax as the events unfold at the end.
Not the best in the series, to my mind, but still intriguing and engaging. The religious times are confusing as ever, making politics threatening as well. Lawyer Shardlake continues to grow as do his friends and colleagues. The serial killer and problems related to the biblical book of Revelation both were drawbacks for me, but perhaps drew in others.
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
informative
tense
fast-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
Listening to a dramatisation is almost like watching a movie with no sound. I do have a sense of having missed a great deal, and am definitely keen to read the actual book, but at the same time it is highly enjoyable. This time Matthew and Jack (we are on first name terms now) are racing against time to catch a murderer using the book of Revelation as an instruction manual. There is much action, historical detail, and great character development.
Another wife for Henry and now we have a serial killer story as well. The wheelings and dealings of life and high end politics with characters that hold my interest means that although I find some of the information repetitive and the plot much like to previous books I still appreciated stepping into this story.
dark
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
England, 1543 - Henry VIII is aiming to marry his sixth (& final) wife, Lady Catherine Parr, recently widowed, but perhaps too sympathetic to Reformists for a king who has drifted back towards Catholicism in his old age. The line between acceptable & unacceptable religious practice grows ever thinner & innocent people are being caught in the backlash.
Meanwhile Shardlake, has been asked to defend a teenage boy who is in danger of being labelled a religious fanatic & is currently being held in the infamous Bedlam hospital for the insane. After an old friend of Shardlake's is murdered, he finds himself also drawn into the hunt for the murderer as it seems that Shardlake's friend was not the only victim. The killer is obsessed with the Book of Revelation & is punishing those deemed to have backslid on their faith.
This fourth book in the series was an easier read for me with few instances of the brutal treatment of animals. Here the focus is on the clash of religious doctrines & practice & how this created a climate of fear & mistrust amongst the population. Say the wrong thing to the wrong person & you could have soon found yourself condemned. All in all, I really liked this one but it went on for just a shade too long for me so 4 stars.
Meanwhile Shardlake, has been asked to defend a teenage boy who is in danger of being labelled a religious fanatic & is currently being held in the infamous Bedlam hospital for the insane. After an old friend of Shardlake's is murdered, he finds himself also drawn into the hunt for the murderer as it seems that Shardlake's friend was not the only victim. The killer is obsessed with the Book of Revelation & is punishing those deemed to have backslid on their faith.
This fourth book in the series was an easier read for me with few instances of the brutal treatment of animals. Here the focus is on the clash of religious doctrines & practice & how this created a climate of fear & mistrust amongst the population. Say the wrong thing to the wrong person & you could have soon found yourself condemned. All in all, I really liked this one but it went on for just a shade too long for me so 4 stars.
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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:
Complicated