Heartstone by C. J. Sansom
Nov. 29th, 2011 11:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
Summer 1545
England is at war. Henry VIII’s invasion of France has gone badly wrong, and a massive French fleet is preparing to sail across the Channel …
Meanwhile, Matthew Shardlake is given an intriguing legal case by an old servant of Queen Catherine Parr. Asked to investigate claims of “monstrous wrongs” committed against his young ward, Hugh Curteys, by Sir Nicholas Hobbey, Shardlake and his assistant Barak journey to Portsmouth. There, Shardlake also intends to investigate the mysterious past of Ellen Fettiplace, a young woman incarcerated in the Bedlam.
Once in Portsmouth, Shardlake and Barak find themselves in a city preparing for war. The mysteries surrounding the Hobbey family, and the events that destroyed Ellen’s family nineteen years before, involve Shadlake in reunions both with an old friend and an old enemy close to the throne. Soon events will converge on board one of the King’s great warships gathered in Portsmouth harbour, waiting to sail out and confront the approaching French fleet …
Matthew Shardlake wants to avoid court intrigue but when the Queen asks for his help in a case, he finds himself unable to refuse. Michael Calfhill claimed to have found a “monstrous wrong” in the wardship of Hugh Curteys by Nicholas Hobbey and sought to re-open it in court, only to apparently commit suicide before the hearing. Shardlake takes the case when he discovers that the Hobbeys live close to where Ellen Fettiplace grew up and sees an opportunity to discover what caused her committal to Bedlam.
But Shardlake soon discovers that the cases have common elements and worse, involve his enemy, Sir Richard Rich. With the army and navy gathering in Portsmouth to repel an anticipated French invasion, Shardlake and Barak find themselves caught up in the terror of an England ready for war and with his enemies circling him, Shardlake must fight for his very life in the middle of a sea battle …
The fifth in C J Sansom’s bestselling Shardlake series is an entertaining mix of old and new characters and mysteries.
The plot’s divided between two main strands, i.e. what’s going on with Hugh Curteys and the Hobbey family and what happened to Ellen Fettiplace, mixed in with sub-plots about a vindictive recruiting sergeant seeking to conscript Barak into the army just as Tamasin is getting ready to have their child and Shardlake’s hiring on an unscrupulous steward. The plots do meander at times mainly so that Sansom can open the book out to look at the context of Henry VIII’s disastrous French campaign and what it meant for England. I enjoyed that wider scene-setting, but it may irritate those only interested in the detection – it does generate an authentic period ‘feel’ and Sansom cites his research in an interesting authorial note.
My biggest issue was actually with Shardlake who shows stunning naiveté in the final quarter of the book. While this leads to a stunning denouement on the Mary Rose, it’s a contrived way of doing it and the main duff note in the novel and I found his dithering over his relationship with Ellen irritating, given his concern that no one will want him (but to be fair, he does get called on it).
It kept me turning the pages and I hope that this isn’t the last of Shardlake as there’s still plenty of life in this series.
The Verdict:
The fifth in C. J. Sansom’s bestselling Shardlake series is an entertaining mystery set against the wider backdrop of an England preparing for invasion. The plot does meander at times to incorporate the historical context, which I enjoyed but if you just want the crime detection then it might be annoying. I was actually more irritated by Shardlake who for me seemed to be astonishingly naïve given his adventures and experiences, purely to set up the denouement. That said, this book kept me turning the pages and I really hope that Shardlake comes back for a sixth book.
England is at war. Henry VIII’s invasion of France has gone badly wrong, and a massive French fleet is preparing to sail across the Channel …
Meanwhile, Matthew Shardlake is given an intriguing legal case by an old servant of Queen Catherine Parr. Asked to investigate claims of “monstrous wrongs” committed against his young ward, Hugh Curteys, by Sir Nicholas Hobbey, Shardlake and his assistant Barak journey to Portsmouth. There, Shardlake also intends to investigate the mysterious past of Ellen Fettiplace, a young woman incarcerated in the Bedlam.
Once in Portsmouth, Shardlake and Barak find themselves in a city preparing for war. The mysteries surrounding the Hobbey family, and the events that destroyed Ellen’s family nineteen years before, involve Shadlake in reunions both with an old friend and an old enemy close to the throne. Soon events will converge on board one of the King’s great warships gathered in Portsmouth harbour, waiting to sail out and confront the approaching French fleet …
Matthew Shardlake wants to avoid court intrigue but when the Queen asks for his help in a case, he finds himself unable to refuse. Michael Calfhill claimed to have found a “monstrous wrong” in the wardship of Hugh Curteys by Nicholas Hobbey and sought to re-open it in court, only to apparently commit suicide before the hearing. Shardlake takes the case when he discovers that the Hobbeys live close to where Ellen Fettiplace grew up and sees an opportunity to discover what caused her committal to Bedlam.
But Shardlake soon discovers that the cases have common elements and worse, involve his enemy, Sir Richard Rich. With the army and navy gathering in Portsmouth to repel an anticipated French invasion, Shardlake and Barak find themselves caught up in the terror of an England ready for war and with his enemies circling him, Shardlake must fight for his very life in the middle of a sea battle …
The fifth in C J Sansom’s bestselling Shardlake series is an entertaining mix of old and new characters and mysteries.
The plot’s divided between two main strands, i.e. what’s going on with Hugh Curteys and the Hobbey family and what happened to Ellen Fettiplace, mixed in with sub-plots about a vindictive recruiting sergeant seeking to conscript Barak into the army just as Tamasin is getting ready to have their child and Shardlake’s hiring on an unscrupulous steward. The plots do meander at times mainly so that Sansom can open the book out to look at the context of Henry VIII’s disastrous French campaign and what it meant for England. I enjoyed that wider scene-setting, but it may irritate those only interested in the detection – it does generate an authentic period ‘feel’ and Sansom cites his research in an interesting authorial note.
My biggest issue was actually with Shardlake who shows stunning naiveté in the final quarter of the book. While this leads to a stunning denouement on the Mary Rose, it’s a contrived way of doing it and the main duff note in the novel and I found his dithering over his relationship with Ellen irritating, given his concern that no one will want him (but to be fair, he does get called on it).
It kept me turning the pages and I hope that this isn’t the last of Shardlake as there’s still plenty of life in this series.
The Verdict:
The fifth in C. J. Sansom’s bestselling Shardlake series is an entertaining mystery set against the wider backdrop of an England preparing for invasion. The plot does meander at times to incorporate the historical context, which I enjoyed but if you just want the crime detection then it might be annoying. I was actually more irritated by Shardlake who for me seemed to be astonishingly naïve given his adventures and experiences, purely to set up the denouement. That said, this book kept me turning the pages and I really hope that Shardlake comes back for a sixth book.
