Reviews

Not sure how to rate this, 4.75/5 or 5/5 for spoilery reasons. 95% of the book was top class as always and I overall loved it as much as the others. I liked that it also felt fairly different since it follows the story of a serial killer rather than being as strictly political as the last two books. I also loved the view it gave of the religious culture and tensions of the time, and in general highly enjoyed the historical side. That said, the final conclusion to the mystery left me skeptical and a little unsatisfied for the following reason:

Spoiler honestly Cantrell didn't make much sense as the killer to me, there were too many of what felt like inconsistencies for me that were never really explained in the end. Towards the latter half of the book, it didn't make sense that Cantrell, who had spent several years as a monk and without any combat training would keep physically besting guys like Barak and Orr. Barak was one of Cromwell's thugs, athletic and a trained swordsman supposedly very proficient in combat, not to mention very savvy in general. Similarly, Orr was set as a guard because of his size and the fact that that's what he does for a living. Yet when the three of them have Cantrell cornered at the pedlar's cart he twice gets the better of Barak in close quarters (who apparently becomes useless) and then easily gets away. That part felt very unbelievable for me. There were other things that were never really explained either. Early on, the killer seemed to know all their plans, showing up where they hadn't mentioned they'd be going to anyone else. The pedlar disguise or careful planning didn't, to me, explain all of those instances. We also never really get what Cantrell's story was...how he became such an obsessive radical reformer beyond that his father was after Cantrell left the monestary. In the beginning, Shardlake also keeps repeating that they're not only looking for someone with medical training but who is also familiar with the legal system. We know that the crooked solicitor was informing on Shardlake, but did he also write the letters and meet Roger the first time for example? Cantrell also just never seems intelligent enough or really lucid enough, even in the end, to be the type of person to pull off everything he did. I loved the rest of the book, but Cantrell just doesn't make sense to me as the killer and it bugs me lol

simon326's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

A superbly dark and thrilling adventure comes in this latest Shardlake mystery as the lawyer finds himself hunting perhaps his most dangerous villain yet - a twisted, but cunning serial killer - during the latter years of Henry VIII's reign. Again, the author does a fantastic job of portraying the historical events around which his story takes place and he captures the mood of the time well.

This is perhaps the darkest mystery yet and the nature of the crimes may leave some people feeling squeamish, including the main characters. However the sense of danger simply enhances the excitement and I again found the book impossible to put down.

This book also contains good character development for many of our by now familiar friends. I will avoid spoilers here, but I can say that I felt one particular change was very welcome. I felt that in previous books Shardlake was somew at passive and spent most of his time responding to events around him. However, in this book I thoroughly enjoyed seeing him play the role of the determined investigator, tracking down leads and making deductions as he hunted the villain.

Overall, perhaps the most tense and exciting Shardlake book to date (and that's saying something).

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eloise4f995's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

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