Sovereign: A Matthew Shardlake Tudor Mystery

Of his first book "Dissolution" in this series Dame P.D. James writes, "The sights, the voices, the very smell of this turbulent age seem to rise from the page.... C.J. Sansom can lay claim to a place among the most distinguised of modern historical novelists." With such praise, of course, how could one miss. And this praise was for Sansom was for the first book! His following two certainly shouldn't disappoint Dame James (nor any other reader). In "Sovereign" Sansom extends the Henry VIII saga (in a much more detailed accounting. My copy has 660 pages!). In addition, he dedicates it to Dame James, herself a highly skilled and worthy author of British suspense. In this episode we find our hunchbacked barrister, Matthew Shardlake and his trusty assistant Jack Barak, on a mission with the Great Progress, Henry VIII's foray into York with thousands in his retinue, including an army and its followers. Shardlake is on a secret mission under the auspices of Archbishop Cranmer (Cromwell has been deposed (actually beheaded) the year before. Henry and his minions are drastically trying to eliminate any and every one who oppose him, religiously or otherwise. By this time, Henry has established himself as the head of the Church of England, a protestant movement, one which sees Catholicism anathema to the crown "and to the future of England." At the heart of this secret mission is Shardlake's responsibilty to see that a key captive and conspirator, Sir Edward Broderick, is kept alive and safe for a trip to London, whereby he will be placed in the Tower and proper confessions will be extracted (the Tower has "means" for such activities, as one knows from history). But all is not so simple. Court intrigue, religious fanaticism, human cruelty and human weakness, fraud, deceit--you name it--enter the picture. Of great import is the existence of secret documents that question the legitimacy of Henry's crown. One can imagine how interested the king would be in this matter! Early on, Shardlake is presented with a death he deems murder, and the novel picks up steam (and pace) from this point on. Of course, as this is a medieval murder mystery, it's not surprising that more deaths are discovered, more intrigues and court games are revealed, and the pieces of this literary puzzle begin to fall into place. Sansom is clearly in charge of the story and at no time does it get away from him. Despite its length, "Sovereign" is spell-binding, even mesmerizing, and Sansom seems to have improved with age, as this third in the trilogy seems his best written; it is more carefully laid out with better characterizations. The author continues to lambast Henry's zeal and the ugliness of such zealousness. The reader has no difficulty seeing the metaphor extending throughout history. That said, of course, he does not shortchange his characters or their fictional input. One understands that this is a fictional take on what "might have been." Still,

Sansom is fast earning a spot on my "grab" list. You know: the authors who are so unrelentingly excellent that you'd grab any book with their name on it, without even looking at the rest of the cover. He's that good, at least in this series about Matthew Shardlake, a lawyer who is trying (unsuccessfully) to live a quiet life at the edges of Henry VIII's England. (Catherine Howard is queen, which gives you some sense of the time period.) Shardlake is given a plum assignment, to take care of some legal matters during the King's progress to York. He's also given an uncomfortable addendum: there's a prisoner in York who needs to be kept alive until he can be brought to the Tower of London for questioning (i.e. torture). So Shardlake and his assistant, Jack Barak, head to York... and almost immediately (this being a mystery after all) come across a dead body. As in the previous novels in this series, the immediacy of the place is fabulous. You smell the stink of the stable, taste the dull but filling potage, get the sense of what it was like to live in that place and time. The storytelling is great; my guesses for whodunnit were all wrong, and the true answer made perfect sense. And I really like this character. Unlike many such books, you could read this one as a standalone. It'd be better if you read the earlier books, certainly, but you don't need most of the backstory for this to work. (And if you like Phillipa Gregory's books about the same era, particularly The Boleyn Inheritance, you'll really like this one.) This isn't a light read -- it's full of court intrigue and has a large cast of characters -- but it's extremely enjoyable.

I normally don't write reviews, but I read them to help me determine if I will enjoy a book. I only write them if I feel a book is TRULY misrepresented by reviews and I'm trying to save my fellow readers from making the same mistake I did - wasting money and time! But I have enjoyed the three Matthew Shardlake mysteries so much, I feel I must add my voice to the chorus of praise. I recommend "Sovereign" highly, along with "Dissolution" and "Dark Fire", the first and second in the series. I've always been a mystery buff, and for the last several years, historical mysteries have been my favorite genre. Ellis Peters, Bernard Knight, the Catherine LeVandeur series, anything by P.C. Doherty, Elizabeth Peters, Victoria Thompson, Jane Jakeman, I.J. Parker, etc. - I read all periods of historical mysteries, and enjoy "weightier" novels like this one (storyline, not physical size, although this one qualifies in both categories), as well as those blending history, mystery, humor, even a touch of romance - as long as they are well-written with memorable characters, I will give them a try. This series is truly a standout; once again, I am amazed at C.J. Sansom's gift for bringing alive the paranoid, almost claustrophobic world of Matthew Shardlake in Henry VIII's England. While the common folk struggle under the twin burdens of heavy taxation and overzealous religious reformers trying to stamp out any rebellion or trace of the "old religion", anyone even remotely connected to the snake pit of Henry's court struggles to stay a step ahead of vicious gossip, betrayal and a trip to the dreaded Tower. Meanwhile, Henry goes through wives and courtiers, a spoiled tyrant desperate for an heir (at the point of this novel, he was desperate for another male heir - his "spare"). As other reviewers have noted, Sansom keeps the action moving despite the Progress being stalled in York as Shardlake tries to stay alive and solve the mystery. The author uses this "endangered man alone in a crowd" device skillfully to ratchet up the tension as the protagonist sees threats around every corner of the crowded city, burdened under the strain of the King's visit and seething with resentment. I only hope this isn't the last in the series - these are wonderfully drawn characters, and I felt Sansom used them well, as he has throughout the series, to truly illustrate the burden placed on the shoulders of "ordinary people" trying to live their anonymous lives as the mighty struggled for power.

Lawyer Matthew Shardlake and his assistant Jack Barak are sent to York to ensure the welfare of a prisoner being returned to London for interrogation. Matthew is also to assist with processing legal partitions King Henry VIII during the King's Progress to York. When local glazier is killed, Matthew and Jack uncover a locked box containing several papers, including a genealogical chart. Before Matthew has a chance to review all the papers, he is attacked and the box taken. Other attacks follow and Matthew must uncover who is behind them and what is the secret that could topple a King's throne. Sansom has a talent of writing both a very good, suspenseful mystery while involving the reader in the life and politics of the time. Rather than portraying a romantic view of historic England, Sansom conveys the harshness of living conditions, the brutality of the justice of the time and the unrest and uncertainty due to Henry's striving for an heir and causing the religious division of the time. Matthew is a wonderful character with a strong belief in doing what's right, he's nicely offset by Barak greater willingness to bend the rules. Matthew is also a very human character who can be stubborn, petty and jealous. Although the dialogue is a bit awkward at times as it is strictly neither period nor modern, only a couple times did I find that distracting. This is a series I read in order, but if you enjoy history brought to life, I highly recommend Sansom.