Revelation by C. J. Sansom
Oct. 25th, 2009 09:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
Spring, 1543
King Henry VIII is wooing 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, and fears that the boy’s terrifying religious mania could lead to him being burned as a heretic.
When an old friend is horrifically murdered, Shardlake promises his widow that he will 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 Jack Barak and his physician friend, Guy Malton, investigates a series of horrific murders which soon bring talk of witchcraft and demonic possession – for what else would the Tudor mind make of a serial killer ... ?
Matthew Shardlake is now a serjeant representing the poor in the Court of Requests. When the body of his friend, Roger Elliard, is found in a fountain with his neck slit, Shardlake swears to Roger’s widow Dorothy that he will find the culprit. His promise draws him back into the deadly world of court politics as he’s forced to team up with coroner Sir Gregory Harsnet who’s investigating on behalf of Lord Hertford and Archbishop Cranmer. Together they learn that Elliard’s murder is part of a series linked to the Book of Revelation.
While trying to fathom the mind of a religious serial killer, Shardlake also represents Adam Kite, a teenager whose Protestant religious mania has seen him confined to Bedlam and who risks the wrath of Bishop Bonner who is trying to turn England back to Catholicism. Shardlake enlists the help of his friends Guy Malton and Jack Barak for both cases, but they have problems of their own – Guy’s new apprentice, Piers, has a strange hold over him and Barak and Tamsin have been having marital problems since the death of their baby. With the killer always one step ahead, Shardlake finds his cases conflating together and his own life placed in danger as the serial killer makes him a target.
Another excellent book in the series, this is a complicated mystery set against the backdrop of Henry VIII’s wooing of Catherine Parr and Catholic sympathisers seeking to undermine the Protestant reform. Shardlake’s own faith has diminished as the series has progressed and he’s disillusioned with what the country has turned into. He’s also more aware of his single state and his promise to Dorothy is at least partly motivated by his sense that this is his last chance for love. This is also why he’s so keen to help Barak and Tamsin resolve their problems (although these scenes do become a little too repetitive in nature).
Once again, Sansom conveys a real sense of period and place, particularly the scenes set in Bedlam, with the cruel treatment meted out to its patients. The way he ties the strands of his plot together is masterly and the murders are suitably grisly. I could have done with more explanation for what set the killer off on their murderous path, but this is a nitpick.
I hope that there’s more to come in this excellent series, which never fails to impress.
The Verdict:
Sansom never fails to impress and this series shows no signs of flagging. It’s a sumptuous page-turner full of satisfying twists and turns.
King Henry VIII is wooing 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, and fears that the boy’s terrifying religious mania could lead to him being burned as a heretic.
When an old friend is horrifically murdered, Shardlake promises his widow that he will 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 Jack Barak and his physician friend, Guy Malton, investigates a series of horrific murders which soon bring talk of witchcraft and demonic possession – for what else would the Tudor mind make of a serial killer ... ?
Matthew Shardlake is now a serjeant representing the poor in the Court of Requests. When the body of his friend, Roger Elliard, is found in a fountain with his neck slit, Shardlake swears to Roger’s widow Dorothy that he will find the culprit. His promise draws him back into the deadly world of court politics as he’s forced to team up with coroner Sir Gregory Harsnet who’s investigating on behalf of Lord Hertford and Archbishop Cranmer. Together they learn that Elliard’s murder is part of a series linked to the Book of Revelation.
While trying to fathom the mind of a religious serial killer, Shardlake also represents Adam Kite, a teenager whose Protestant religious mania has seen him confined to Bedlam and who risks the wrath of Bishop Bonner who is trying to turn England back to Catholicism. Shardlake enlists the help of his friends Guy Malton and Jack Barak for both cases, but they have problems of their own – Guy’s new apprentice, Piers, has a strange hold over him and Barak and Tamsin have been having marital problems since the death of their baby. With the killer always one step ahead, Shardlake finds his cases conflating together and his own life placed in danger as the serial killer makes him a target.
Another excellent book in the series, this is a complicated mystery set against the backdrop of Henry VIII’s wooing of Catherine Parr and Catholic sympathisers seeking to undermine the Protestant reform. Shardlake’s own faith has diminished as the series has progressed and he’s disillusioned with what the country has turned into. He’s also more aware of his single state and his promise to Dorothy is at least partly motivated by his sense that this is his last chance for love. This is also why he’s so keen to help Barak and Tamsin resolve their problems (although these scenes do become a little too repetitive in nature).
Once again, Sansom conveys a real sense of period and place, particularly the scenes set in Bedlam, with the cruel treatment meted out to its patients. The way he ties the strands of his plot together is masterly and the murders are suitably grisly. I could have done with more explanation for what set the killer off on their murderous path, but this is a nitpick.
I hope that there’s more to come in this excellent series, which never fails to impress.
The Verdict:
Sansom never fails to impress and this series shows no signs of flagging. It’s a sumptuous page-turner full of satisfying twists and turns.
