Review: Dissolution by C.J. Sansom

A hunchback lawyer is sent to a small monastery in rural England at the behest of the infamous Thomas Cromwell. A man sent earlier to try to get the monastery to agree to disband has been murdered. Shardlake is sent to find the murderer and find a way to force the dissolution of the monastery, as part of the ‘reforms’ during Henry VIII’s reign.

Shardlake arrives as a believing reformer, never questioning the methods or people Cromwell has doing his bidding. By the time he leaves, his eyes have been opened, the mystery has been solved and Shardlake is unsure of his future, as well of that of England.

Sansom paints the world of Tudor England with a winter colored brush. The misery is apparent as is the fear and confusion amongst the people of the time.

Highly recommended. First of a series.

May Planned (hah!) Reads

 

I’ve already begun Dissolution by C.J. Sansom (a murder mystery with the detective a hunchback lawyer back in Tudor England) and the fifth book of the Malazan series Midnight Tides by Steven Erickson.

On deck:

Tea with the Black Dragon – R.A. MacAvoy

Raven Black – (book one of a series) – Ann Cleeves

The Sword-Edged Blonde – (first of a series) – Alex Bledsoe

After the Armistice Ball – (another first of a series, sigh) – Catriona McPherson

New Amsterdam – Elizabeth Bear

The Technologists – Matthew Pearl

April’s Reading Roundup

I burned through the S. J. Parris historical murder mysteries, as I’d gotten the third one for free from Library Thing’s Early Reviewer program:

1. Heresy

2. Prophecy

3. Sacrilege

I really enjoyed them. They feature Giordano Bruno, a fomer monk on the run from the Inquisition.

Also:

4. Eagle of the Ninth – Rosemary Sutcliff

5. The Winter Garden Mystery – Carola Dunn

6. Faceless Killers – Henning Mankell (first of the Kurt Wallander Scandi murder mystery series)

7. A Clubbable Woman – Reginald Hill (first of the Dalziel and Pascoe murder mystery series)

8. Stardust – Neil Gaiman

9. Blackbirds – Chuck Wendig (this is a fabulous, if violent, thriller)

Review: Blackbirds by Chuck Wendig

Wow.  Talk about a wild ride and a book you can’t put down.

Miriam can see the future. She touches someone and knows how they die. She’s tried desperately to change a few of those futures and has always failed. Now someone she might love is at risk. Can she finally affect the future, and challenge fate and remake the world?

Violent, so not for everyone. But if you love a thriller, and a mystery, give it a try. Oh, and the cover is magnificent and fits the book totally.

Two Short Reviews

A Clubbable Woman - Reginald Hill This was an audio book. The first of the Dalziel and Pascoe series. Okay, nothing particularly special. Dalziel is, as ever, annoying...

 

Stardust - Neil Gaiman Fairy tale that is cute and engaging. Differed from the movie significantly - and I confess I thought the movie better!

Review: Faceless Killers–Henning Mankell

Modern Scandia murder mystery, set in wintry Scandia. Refreshing in that the police are prone to make mistakes, and the murderers aren’t found in short order. In fact, Kurt Wallander goes down many unproductive paths, and only solves the mystery through sheer persistence and a lot of luck.

I’ll definitely read more of these. Have book two on hold at the library, but I’m second on the waiting list.

Review: Sacrilege by S.J. Parris

Giordano Bruno: Heretic. On the run from the Inquisition. Italian and thusly doubly suspicious in defensive and conspiracy ridden England in the age of Elizabeth.  After all, he must be a papist, despite his excommunication.  And, well, he agrees with that Pole Copernicus and consorts with the likes of John Dee, so he’s a magician too. Oh, and he’s in search of the mysterious lost book of Hermes Trismegistus.

What the majority of people don’t know, is Bruno is also an agent for Sir Francis Walsingham, Principal Secretary to Elizabeth 1. And the go to guy when someone is found murdered.  He’s also Walsingham’s spy inside the French Embassy, since he’s staying there because his patron, King Henri of France has given him asylum from Rome.

At the moment though, Bruno wants to go travel to Canterbury.  He’s been asked by a young woman he knows for help.  Her husband has been murdered, and she had met Bruno in Oxford, so she begs him to clear her name and find the real killer.

What Bruno doesn’t know yet, is that this seemingly simple murder investigation will lead to yet more Catholic conspiracies to oust Elizabeth and place Mary on the throne, bringing England back into the Catholic fold.

Wonderful characterizations, complex and realistically drawn settings, bring the world of the 1580s to life. The mystery itself is intriguing and multilayered. Several times I thought for sure I’d figured it out. I was wrong!

If you love historical fiction that can seem to put you there, you’ll love the Giordano Bruno series. And the series only gets better.