Cromwell is now dead so Shardlake has been living his life as a normal lawyer would without being sent off to do any missions for the Crown. We find Shardlake trying to live a quiet life fighting legal cases with the help of his assistant Jack Barak. This is the first Shardlake book that I have struggled with slightly but I am glad I persevered with it as I really enjoyed the book, especially the ending. And when Shardlake and Barak stumble upon a cache of secret papers which could threaten the Tudor throne, a chain of events unfolds that will lead to Shardlake facing the most terrifying fate of the age… As well as assisting with legal work processing petitions to the King, Shardlake has reluctantly undertaken a special mission for the Archbishop Cranmer – to ensure the welfare of an important but dangerous conspirator being returned to London for interrogation.īut the murder of a local glazier involves Shardlake in deeper mysteries, connected not only to the prisoner in York Castle but to the royal family itself. King Henry VIII has set out on a spectacular Progress to the North to attend an extravagant submission of his rebellious subjects in York.Īlready in the city are lawyer Matthew Shardlake and his assistant Jack Barak. As the English fleet gathers at Portsmouth, the country raises the largest militia army it has ever seen.

Henry VIII's invasion of France has gone badly wrong, and a massive French fleet is preparing to sail across the Channel. Archbishop Cranmer and the embattled Protestant faction at court are watching keenly, for Lady Catherine is known to have reformist sympathies. But this time the object of his affections is resisting. King Henry VIII is wooing Lady Catherine Parr, whom he wants for his sixth wife. King Henry VIII has set out on a spectacular Progress to the North to attend an extravagant submission of his rebellious subjects in York. Already in the city are lawyer Matthew Shardlake and his assistant Jack Barak. Matthew Shardlake, believing himself out of favour with Thomas Cromwell, is busy trying to maintain his legal practice and keep a low profile.Īutumn, 1541. It is 1540 and the hottest summer of the sixteenth century.

Henry VIII has proclaimed himself Supreme Head of the Church and the country is waking up to savage new laws, rigged trials and the greatest network of informers ever seen. It is 1537, a time of revolution that sees the greatest changes in England since 1066.

Sovereign by C.J. Sansom