Heartstone by C.J. Sansom
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Summer, 1545. England is at war. Henry VIII's invasion of
France has gone badly wrong, and a massive French fleet is preparing to sail
across the Channel. As the English fleet gathers at Portsmouth, the country
raises the largest militia army it has ever seen. The King has debased the
currency to pay for the war, and England is in the grip of soaring inflation
and economic crisis. Meanwhile Matthew Shardlake is given an intriguing legal
case by an old servant of Queen Catherine Parr. 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. Once arrived, Shardlake and Barak find themselves in a
city preparing to become a war zone; and Shardlake takes the opportunity to
also investigate the mysterious past of Ellen Fettipace, a young woman
incarcerated in the Bedlam. The emerging mysteries around the young ward, and
the events that destroyed Ellen's family nineteen years before, involve
Shardlake in reunions both with an old friend and an old enemy close to the
throne. Events will converge on board one of the King's great warships, primed
for battle in Portsmouth the Mary Rose...
Phew. This series of books is not short. 715 pages in this instalment. But another great read. This one takes place during the summer of 1545 with England at war with France and facing an invasion. Once again lawyer Matthew Shardlake gets himself caught up in legal cases that prove to be complicated and dangerous.
Despite being long it's a real page turner with lots of historical information included. I really enjoyed it.
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