Lamentation by C. J. Sansom

The Blurb On The Back:

Summer, 1546.

King Henry VIII is slowly, painfully dying. His Protestant and Catholic councillors are engaged in a final and decisive power struggle; whoever wins will control the government of Henry’s successor, eight-year-old Prince Edward. As heretics are hunted across London, and the radical Protestant Anne Askew is burned at the stake, the Catholic party focus their attack on Henry’s sixth wife, Matthew Shardlake’s old mentor, Queen Catherine Parr.

Shardlake, still haunted by events aboard the warship Mary Rose the year before, is working on the Cotterstoke Will case, a savage dispute between rival siblings. Then, unexpectedly, he is summoned to Whitehall Palace and asked for help by his old patron, the now beleaguered and desperate Queen.

For Catherine Parr has a secret. She has written a confessional book, Lamentation of a Sinner, so radically Protestant that if it came to the King’s attention it could bring both her and her sympathisers crashing down. But, although the book was kept secret and hidden inside a locked chest in the Queen’s private chamber, it has – inexplicably – vanished. Only one page has been found, clutched in the hand of a murdered London printer.

Shardlake’s investigations take him on a trail that begins among the backstreet print-shops of London but leads him and Jack Barak into the dark and labyrinthine world of the politics of the royal court; a world he had sworn never to enter again. Loyalty to the Queen will drive him into a swirl of intrigue inside Whitehall Palace, where Catholic enemies and Protestant friends can be equally dangerous, and the political opportunists, who will follow the wind wherever it blows, more dangerous than either.

The theft of Queen Catherine’s book proves to be connected to the terrible death of Anne Askew while his involvement with the Cotterstoke litigants threatens to bring Shardlake himself to the stake.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

The sixth in C J Sansom’s bestselling SHARDLAKE SERIES is an absorbing, twisting and intricate historical thriller that works as an ending to Shardlake’s adventures (should Sansom decide to leave it here) but also sets up a delicious potential seventh novel. As always, Sansom is a master of juggling his plotlines and I really admire the way he brings them together to keep the overall story moving. There’s a sense of Shardlake being more settled in his life and although I didn’t believe in his crush on Catherine Parr (and am irritated by his thing for unobtainable women) I did enjoy the rising tension between Shardlake and Guy and Shardlake and Tamasin as they point out how others suffer for Shardlake’s curiosity and duty. Nicholas is an interesting new addition and I liked the way he moves into the action role as Barak gets older. As always, the history feels authentic and Sansom is a master of using real historical people in credible ways – particularly the despicable Richard Rich and one of the early scenes, depicting the execution of Anne Askew is hideous in its brutality. There are a few sections that feel a little padded but I really didn’t mind because the overall read is such an engrossing joy that I thoroughly recommend.

If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch

The Blurb On The Back:

Carey is keeping a terrible secret.

If she tells, it could destroy her future.

If she doesn’t, will she ever be free?

For almost as long as she can remember, Carey has lived in the heart of the woods with her drug-addicted mother and six-year-old sister, Jenessa.

Their mother routinely disappears for weeks at a time, leaving the girls to cope alone. Survival is Carey’s only priority – until strangers arrive and everything changes …

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Emily Murdoch’s debut YA novel is a so-so contemporary melodrama, which at times is genuinely touching but is also guilty of descending into melodrama and which never quite rings true when dealing with drug abuse, kidnap, rape or paedophilia. There are some beautifully written scenes – particularly when Murdoch voices Carey’s confusion and guilt but I was uncomfortable with the way she insisted on how beautiful Carey and Jenessa were and at times I almost felt as if the message being given was that sex abuse is something that only happens to beautiful girls or they’re the ones best placed to survive it. The relationship between Carey and her mother is underdeveloped – particularly given some of the revelations and I really needed a resolution to that storyline. There’s a soapy element to the relationship between Carey and Delaney, which unfolds in a completely predictable way and the way in which Carey’s father and step-mother accommodate Carey and Jenessa without any obvious conflict didn’t ring true. On top of this, there’s a lot in the story that’s predictable – the only surprise being the apparent application of Tennessee’s self-defence laws (which in the recounted circumstances would generate a completely different result in the UK). Despite this, the story is fast paced and there’s a genuinely touching epilogue and certainly despite my reservations, there’s enough here to make me interested in checking out Murdoch’s next novel.