Review: Dissolution (Matthew Shardlake, #1)

Outstanding! Dissolution is the perfect marriage of two genres: history and crime. Set during the turbulent reign of Henry VIII, our hero, Matthew Shardlake is a hunch-backed lawyer, working for Thomas Cromwell. In his excellent company we are immersed in this world of treachery and intrigue, where voicing opposition to the dissolution of the churches can lead to an appointment with the rack!

Sansom skilfully paints a vivid picture of London in all its squalor and over-crowding. Matthew Shardlake is a worthy travel companion: quick-witted but naive, believing that Cromwell is working in the best interests of the English people.

So many books have been written about this bloody chapter of English history, but in Matthew Shardlake, Sansom has created a narrator who illuminates this world from a totally different perspective: that of a working man, trying to navigate his way through the ever-changing allegiances of his time.

I have already started the next book in the series, Dark Fires and am very excited to discover there are eight books in the series!

• Review
• C.J. Sansom