The invasion of France mounted by Henry VIII has been a disaster, and, in retaliation, an imposing French fleet is making preparations to cross the Channel. Most of Sansom’s novels (which include Dissolution, Sovereign, Dark Fire and Revelation) seem positively operatic in their sheer scale, and the vividness of which Tudor England is covered by the author makes most other writing in the genre seem footling.Īt over 600 pages, the new book, Heartstone, is one of his most imposing, but after a challenging, slowish start (something frequently attempted by Sansom - like many good writers, he often demands a certain patience from his readers), the customary comprehensive grip is rigorously maintained. 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. Many writers jostle for position at the top of the historical crime fiction tree, but for many aficionados one novelist has maintained an assured premium position for quite some time: the British writer CJ Sansom. 'synopsis' may belong to another edition of this title. Events will converge on board one of the King s great warships, primed for battle in Portsmouth harbour. 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. 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. 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. Meanwhile Matthew Shardlake is given an intriguing legal case by an old servant of Queen Catherine Parr.

The King has debased the currency to pay for the war, and England is in the grip of soaring inflation and economic crisis. As the English fleet gathers at Portsmouth, the country raises the largest militia army it has ever seen. Henry VIII s invasion of France has gone badly wrong, and a massive French fleet is preparing to sail across the Channel.

Heartstone cj sansom review