Synopsis: Spring, 1543. King Henry VIII is wooing Lady Catherine Parr, whom he wants for his sixth wife. Archbishop Cranmer and the embattled Protestant faction at court are watching keenly, for Lady Catherine is known to have reformist sympathies. Matthew Shardlake, meanwhile, is working on the case of a teenage boy who has been placed in the Bedlam insane asylum, before his terrifying religious mania leads to him being burned as a heretic. When an old friend is horrifically murdered Shardlake vows to bring the killer to justice. His search leads him to Cranmer and Catherine Parr - and to the dark prophecies of the "Book of Revelation". As London's Bishop Bonner prepares a purge of Protestants Shardlake, together with his assistant, Jack Barak, and his friend, Guy Malton, investigate a series of horrific murders which are already bringing frenzied talk of witchcraft and demonic possession - for what else would the Tudor mind make of a serial killer...?
Another satisfying Shardlake mystery. I’m spacing these out and reading them slowly so that I’ve always got one to look forward to. So many historical mystery writers have problems balancing the history and the mystery. Not so Mr. Sansom. He gets it right. I’m alternately fascinated by the culture of Tudor England and the clues to the puzzle. Matthew Shardlake is a highly interesting lead character; sympathetic, but not a wimp, decisive, but not reckless and smart, but not preternaturally so. He’s just a guy doing the best he can. Yes, he’s a straight-shooter, but he has dark thoughts just like anyone.
In this outing we get a lot of Guy and Barak and Matthew’s relationship with each of them. Both are under strain, but for different reasons. It’s harrowing to read because they are so important to Matthew and his success, as well as his well-being. Another social aspect is brought into this one in the form of Dorothy; his good friend’s widow and old flame. I had hopes for Matthew with her. It’s strange to feel so much empathy with a character, but I do for Shardlake and wanted him to find romance. Alas, it was not to be in this novel and looks unlikely for the future. Bachelor he will remain. And Barak who is no longer one seems to long for that old life. Marriage isn’t what he expected it to be, especially after their first child is stillborn. Matthew does his best to help them through it, but they cannot talk to each other. Seems nothing does change under the sun.
The mystery itself is good, but I found the idea of a serial killer in this type of novel a bit questionable. It injects too much of now into the past for me. Sure, there were those types of killers back then I suppose, but somehow it seems out of place. Especially with Guy’s analysis to help push the investigation along scientific lines rather than demon possession which is pretty much the accepted reason why anyone does anything weird in 1543. I rather liked the political aspects of the murders in the past and sort of missed them in this book. Yes, Cranmer and the assistant coroner put him in a rather precarious position and he had to watch his step, but it was not in the same league as the Cromwell business. I wish that Sansom had focused on Guy’s problem as a secondary storyline instead of the one we had. After a while the deal with Adam and the Bedlam hospital just got repetitive and I wanted that to be over. I knew there was something screwy with Guy’s assistant after a while and really hoped there would be more repercussion for the jerk than there was. Possibly he’ll be a future enemy we’ll see crawl out from under a rock. Like Bealknap.
The thing that exasperates me the most about the Shardlake series is the religious climate of the times. Accurately portrayed or not it makes me shriek with outrage and roll my eyes at the stupidity. I really, really wish mankind could evolve away from this make-believe. It’s so destructive; corroding reason and destroying sanity. Everyone in Shardlake’s world is subject to religious foolishness in a really negative way; so far I haven’t read about one person it helped or even affected neutrally. The killer in the book is only one example of the extreme nature of religious zealots and is unfortunately realistic enough.
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