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Sovereign by C. J. Sansom
The Blurb On The Back:
Autumn, 1541. King Henry VIII has set out on a spectacular Progress to the North to attend an extravagant submission by his rebellious subjects in York.
Already in the city are lawyers Matthew Shardlake and his assistant Jack Barak. As well as legal work processing local petitions to the King, SHardlake has reluctantly undertaken a special mission for Archbishop Cranmer – to ensure the welfare of an important but dangerous conspirator who is to be returned to London for interrogation.
But the murder of a York glazier involves Shardlake in deeper mysteries, connected not only to the prisoner in York Castle but to the royal family itself. And when Shardlake and Barak stumble upon a cache of secret documents which could threaten the Tudor throne, a chain of events unfolds that will lead to Shardlake facing the most terrifying fate of the age ...
In the third of Sansom’s Shardlake series, the hunchbacked lawyer’s fortunes have suffered following the execution of Thomas Cromwell. Locked in an ill-advised case against a barrister sponsored by Sir Richard Rich, Shardlake is finding clients hard to come by but his fortunes change when Archbishop Cranmer offers him a lucrative place on the King’s Progress to York to hear land disputes. The catch is that once in York, Shardlake will also have to supervise the welfare of Sir Edward Broderick a prisoner being transported to London for questioning (read: torture) about a conspiracy against Henry VIII.
Although Shardlake and Barak hope to avoid being drawn into the political arena, the murder of a glazier at the Progress’s York camp means that the two find themselves investigating a dangerous conspiracy against Henry, a conspiracy that questions the very legitimacy of his reign. Meanwhile, Barak finds himself drawn to Tamasin, a flighty woman in service to Catherine Howard (Henry’s new queen) and Shardlake’s disapproval leads to tension with his assistant.
Although this is a long book, it’s completely absorbing. Sansom’s attention to detail is excellent and his description of the everyday arrangements for housing and catering everyone on the Progress evocative. Shardlake’s disillusion with the Reformation and the King is well depicted and his humiliation at the hands of the king himself (depicted with his stinking, ulcerated leg) cringe-inducing.
A great deal of research has gone into the novel, particularly with reference to the York Uprising but also to the Plantagenet line. At times, the latter gets a little dry although Sansom uses to diagrams to provide clarity. The book has a large cast and a character list would have been useful to keep everyone in line.
Although the mystery element is suitably complex, the motivation for one of the culprits didn’t quite convince. There are also a number of instances where both Shardlake and Barak are either unduly naive or unnecessarily reckless, which spoils the tension. Nevertheless, I remained immersed within the story right through to the end and Sansom’s historical notes also make for fascinating reading. This remains one of the best historical crime series out on the market and is well worth a read.
The Verdict:
Overall this is an excellent story that immerses you in the Tudor period. Shardlake remains a compelling and all-too-human hero. I can’t recommend this too highly.
Autumn, 1541. King Henry VIII has set out on a spectacular Progress to the North to attend an extravagant submission by his rebellious subjects in York.
Already in the city are lawyers Matthew Shardlake and his assistant Jack Barak. As well as legal work processing local petitions to the King, SHardlake has reluctantly undertaken a special mission for Archbishop Cranmer – to ensure the welfare of an important but dangerous conspirator who is to be returned to London for interrogation.
But the murder of a York glazier involves Shardlake in deeper mysteries, connected not only to the prisoner in York Castle but to the royal family itself. And when Shardlake and Barak stumble upon a cache of secret documents which could threaten the Tudor throne, a chain of events unfolds that will lead to Shardlake facing the most terrifying fate of the age ...
In the third of Sansom’s Shardlake series, the hunchbacked lawyer’s fortunes have suffered following the execution of Thomas Cromwell. Locked in an ill-advised case against a barrister sponsored by Sir Richard Rich, Shardlake is finding clients hard to come by but his fortunes change when Archbishop Cranmer offers him a lucrative place on the King’s Progress to York to hear land disputes. The catch is that once in York, Shardlake will also have to supervise the welfare of Sir Edward Broderick a prisoner being transported to London for questioning (read: torture) about a conspiracy against Henry VIII.
Although Shardlake and Barak hope to avoid being drawn into the political arena, the murder of a glazier at the Progress’s York camp means that the two find themselves investigating a dangerous conspiracy against Henry, a conspiracy that questions the very legitimacy of his reign. Meanwhile, Barak finds himself drawn to Tamasin, a flighty woman in service to Catherine Howard (Henry’s new queen) and Shardlake’s disapproval leads to tension with his assistant.
Although this is a long book, it’s completely absorbing. Sansom’s attention to detail is excellent and his description of the everyday arrangements for housing and catering everyone on the Progress evocative. Shardlake’s disillusion with the Reformation and the King is well depicted and his humiliation at the hands of the king himself (depicted with his stinking, ulcerated leg) cringe-inducing.
A great deal of research has gone into the novel, particularly with reference to the York Uprising but also to the Plantagenet line. At times, the latter gets a little dry although Sansom uses to diagrams to provide clarity. The book has a large cast and a character list would have been useful to keep everyone in line.
Although the mystery element is suitably complex, the motivation for one of the culprits didn’t quite convince. There are also a number of instances where both Shardlake and Barak are either unduly naive or unnecessarily reckless, which spoils the tension. Nevertheless, I remained immersed within the story right through to the end and Sansom’s historical notes also make for fascinating reading. This remains one of the best historical crime series out on the market and is well worth a read.
The Verdict:
Overall this is an excellent story that immerses you in the Tudor period. Shardlake remains a compelling and all-too-human hero. I can’t recommend this too highly.