During the political upheaval of Tudor-era England, the lawyer Matthew Shardlake must decide where his loyalties lie in "one of the best ongoing mystery series" for fans of Hilary Mantel (Christian Science Monitor).
LONGLISTED FOR THE SIR WALTER SCOTT PRIZE FOR HISTORICAL FICTION
Spring, 1549. Two years after the death of Henry VIII, England is sliding into chaos.
The nominal king, Edward VI, is eleven years old. His uncle, Edward Seymour, Lord Hertford, rules as Edward's regent and Protector. In the kingdom, radical Protestants are driving the old religion into extinction, while the Protector's prolonged war with Scotland has led to hyperinflation and economic collapse. Rebellion is stirring among the peasantry.
Matthew Shardlake has been working as a lawyer in the service of Henry's younger daughter, the lady Elizabeth. The gruesome murder of one of Elizabeth's distant relations, rumored to be politically murdered, draws Shardlake and his companion Nicholas to the lady's summer estate, where a second murder is committed.
As the kingdom explodes into rebellion, Nicholas is imprisoned for his loyalty, and Shardlake must decide where his loyalties lie -- with his kingdom, or with his lady?
Download and start listening now!
Gripping and engrossing.... The audio book, read by Steven Crossley, interprets Sansom's prose well. The narrative sections are low key, allowing Shardlake's voice to carry the story. In the dialogue, Crossley interprets the voices of the characters: Richard Rich speaks with a high-pitched sneer, William Cecil has low, modulated tones. Regional accents are realistically reproduced for people of different areas, for the gentry, the merchant classes the yeomen and the servant classes.... The pageantry is rich, the murder is macabre, the deaths portrayed are often brutal and violent.
—
Strand magazine