Dissolution - C.J. Sansom

In the late 1530s, Thomas Cromwell is overseeing the dissolution of the monasteries in England. As part of this task, lawyer Matthew Shardlarke is despatched to Scarnsea Monastery to oversee its surrender, but quickly becomes embroiled in a web of intrigue and murder. As a historian, I don’t normally read historical novels. This is because they can sometimes get “facts” so spectacularly wrong that I find it incredibly irritating – to the point where I no longer care about the story. I was particularly wary of this book, as it concentrates on England in the 1530s – my specialist subject at university and so a period I know a fair bit about. However, I was ...  Read the complete review

I picked up a copy of Dissolution when staying at a relative's and suffering from a lack of reading material, being one for judging a book by the blurb on the back the basis of a murder mystery set in Tudor times intrigued me and I read on. It's 1537, Henry VIII has proclaimed himself Supreme Head of the Church and Thomas Cromwell has commenced the investigation of the monastries, with the intention of dissolving them. Cromwell's team of Commissioner's have been sent far and wide to interrogate the workings of the monastries and force them to surrender to closure. But in the Sussex coastal town of Scarnsea one commissioners investigations have taken a nasty ...  Read the complete review

I've just finished reading this book and have to say I found it to be a very enjoyable a read. First off I must say it's not usually my type of thing - crime/historical/murder mystery type things aren't and this book has elements of all of these. However, having read the last book of the series in desperation having run out of books on holiday last year and having it donated, I really enjoyed that one so thought I would give the rest of the series a go. The story introduces the character of Matthew Shardlake, a lawyer who finds himself in the favour of Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII's right hand man in 1537 when the book is set. After the murder of the king's ...  Read the complete review

I'd had this book for a while and kept putting off reading it as to be honest, it didn't sound too appealing to me, despite it's great reviews! However after having recently read The Other Boleyn Girl I was in the mood to read some more books set in the Tudor Times so I finally picked this up. I only wished I'd read it sooner! This is the first book of four in C.J. Sansom's popular 'Shardlake series.' The book is set in the late 1530's not long after the death of Queen Jane Seymour, and Thomas Cromwell is overseeing the dissolution of the monasteries in England. Cromwell calls upon hunchback lawyer Matthew Shardlake to investigate the death of a comissioner ...  Read the complete review

Dissolution is the first novel in a series of book written by C.J Sansom and telling the somewhat adventures of Matthew Shardlake, lawyer and long-time supporter of the reform. All of the novels in the series are set during the reign of Henry VIII and are pieces of historical fiction. This novel deals with the issue of how now the King has proclaimed himself Supreme Head of the Church new laws are wakening the country and the greatest network of informers ever seen is rearing it's head. Lord Thomas Cromwell is sending reams of commissioners to investigate the catholic monasteries to which he believes there to be only one solution - dissolution. ...  Read the complete review