The more I travel overseas, the more I realise that the history I was taught in school is mostly fiction
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I recently read Dissolution by C.J.Sampson, Wikkie Review:
Dissolution is a crime novel by British author C. J. Sansom. It is Sansom's first published novel, released in 2003, and the first in the Matthew Shardlake series. Set in the 16th Century during the dissolution of the monasteries, it follows hunchbacked lawyer Shardlake's attempts to solve the murder of one of Thomas Cromwell's commissioners in the monastery at Scarnsea on the south cost of England.
The novel was nominated for two of the Crime Writers' Association Dagger awards in 2003.
It is 1537, a time of revolution that sees the greatest changes in England since 1066. Henry VIII has proclaimed himself Supreme Head of the Church. The country is waking up to savage new laws, rigged trials and the greatest network of informers it has ever seen. Under the orders of Thomas Cromwell, a team of commissioners is sent throughout the country to investigate the monasteries. There can be only one outcome: dissolution.
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 church altar, 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, accompanied by his loyal assistant Mark. His duty is to discover the truth behind the dark happenings at Scarnsea.
Great novel involving mucky monks, lusty wenches, starving peasants, self centred and power mad figures in authority. The description of the bitterly cold weather and the (literally) lousy conditions bring the whole thing to life very well indeed. Well recommend - I bought mine at The Works on their 3 books for a fiver promotion.
