Henry VIII has proclaimed himself Supreme Head of the Church and the country is waking up to savage new laws, rigged trials and the greatest network of informers ever seen. Under the order of Thomas Cromwell, a team of commissioners is sent through the country to investigate the monasteries. There can only be one outcome: the monasteries are to be dissolved. But on the Sussex coast, at the monastery of Scarnsea, events have spiralled out of control. Cromwell's Commissioner Robin Singleton, has been found dead, his head severed from his body. His horrific murder is accompanied by equally sinister acts of sacrilege - a black cockerel sacrificed on the alter, and the disappearance of Scarnsea's Great Relic. Matthew Shardlake, lawyer and long-time supporter of Reform, has been sent by Cromwell into this atmosphere of treachery and death. But Shardlake's investigation soon forces him to question everything he hears, and everything that he intrinsically believes ..."Remarkable." - P. D. James. "Extraordinarily impressive. The best crime novel I have read this year." - Colin Dexter.Rate this item to improve your recommendations

2008-02-13 A Well Structured Plot

I enjoyed this story very much. It will certainly please the myriads of historical crime novel readers. Period crime novels are probably at their highest level for many years and this is certainly one of the better ones. Not a classic but certainly a very enjoyable and interesting read.

1537 and the English Reformation is in full swing. Lord Thomas Cromwell Vicar-General of his majesty King Henry VIII is ready and willing to shut down any papist institutions he can find. When one of his commissioners is found beheaded at a remote Benedictine monastery, Cromwell sends another, the lawyer, Matthew Shardlake to investigate the murder . . .

The author gives an excellent portrayal of the corruption that abounded in England during the reign of Henry VIII. His plot is well structured and his characters charismatic and believable.