Heartstone (Matthew Shardlake 5)

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The novel is well-paced and offers more English history with a Tudor flavour, as the country prepares for another battle. Matthew Shardlake is a London lawyer who used to have the protection of the powerful Thomas Cromwell – before Cromwell met an untimely “off with his head!

Luckily, it is at this time that Matthew gets a case from his new patron, Catherine Parr, and he desperately needs Barak’s help.

The Shardlake books are now my favorite historical mystery series and Sansom’s name is generally one of the first on my lips when friends ask for book recommendations.

some grand reveals too as the story comes to it’s conclusion within a great historical chapter retold with Master Shardlake centre stage.Just when you thought you had the case figured out, a monkey wrench is thrown into the mix and all of the sudden, our intrepid heroes are risking their lives because one of the villains knew that they were getting too close. There is quite an unexpected twist about three-fourths of the way through the book, a long time to wait. These seven books make for a fabulous series, but Sansom has mentioned that he does wish for the series to go through the reign of Elizabeth I, which I would love. His actions and the actions of others involved in both cases lead to Shardlake and Barak becoming mixed in the middle of the battle between the French and the English.

This will lead him and his man, Jack Barak, into some dangerous waters whilst uncovering secrets that involve and affect many. With the prospect of a French invasion looming over their head, can Shardlake and Barak solve both cases before the French and the English can start fighting? His sprawling, exuberant and brilliantly organised novels featuring the wily hunchbacked lawyer Matthew Shardlake are particular favourites of those who seek something a little more ambitious in the field, and it's not hard to see why. His interest in Ellen Fettiplace, 35yo resident of The Bedlam asylum, is complicated by her romantic attraction to him, and he feels guilty that he cannot reciprocate.

Asked to investigate claims of 'monstrous wrongs' committed against a young ward of the court, which have already involved one mysterious death, Shardlake and his assistant Barak journey to Portsmouth. Remains particularly and surprisingly well-preserved; tight, bright, clean and especially sharp-cornered. Another thing that I will say about this novel is that, being from Hampshire myself, it was absolutely amazing to see so many familiar place names in this book ( eg: Portsmouth, Portsdown Hill, Petersfield, Gosport, Horndean, Cosham, Portchester, Southsea Castle etc. As I mentioned before, what sets this series apart from others that I have read are those exquisite details. Asked to investigate claims of "monstrous wrongs" committed against a young ward of the court, which have already involved one mysterious death, Shardlake and his assistant, Barak, journey to Portsmouth.

Certainly the boxed set includes "the four books of the Shardlake series" and the focus of this latest addition to the Shardlake stories has a focus which although steeped in the political intrigues and court goings-on of the time is also far more illustrative of everyday life for the majority of the underprivileged population of the British Isles at the time. As my work involves Child Welfare and Protection, this story was especially interesting to me, as I was able to explore how things were done five centuries before. While the ‘ward’ case seems less to shine a light on what SHardlake feels, the reader gets more of Barak’s personality shining through, with his wife carrying their child.Following the suicide of her only son, Mistress Bess Calfhill seeks assistance from her former employer, Queen Catherine Parr, to uncover a possible injustice to the Curteys children, her son's pupils. To access your ebook(s) after purchasing, you can download the free Glose app or read instantly on your browser by logging into Glose. Set during the reign of Henry VIII, the novels focus on various crimes, which the intrepid Shardlake investigates while dealing with the prevailing situation of London and England under Henry's increasingly erratic reign. Though he is settling into married life, Barak still has his fighting spirit that leads him into trouble at times. He sees at first hand the English flotilla of warships, including the King's favourite vessel, the Mary Rose.