Dissolution (The Shardlake series, 1)

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Once establishing himself as head of the English church, Henry conveniently grants himself a divorce from his wife, Catherine of Aragon, so that he can marry Ann Boleyn. It is too much to expect that people can just flip a switch and do away with beliefs that have sustained them their whole lives.

Shardlake’s first outing was not perhaps as complicated in terms of the mystery threads in the story as the later ones, which is not to say by any means that it was an easy case—there were many threads to this as well, and the answers when they are revealed are not quite what one expected (incidentally, I did successfully guess one part of it, so the surprise element was definitely there). Set in 1537 and told in the first person, Matthew Shardlake (a King’s Commissioner) must investigate the brutal killing of the previous King's Commissioner, Robin Singleton at Scarnsea monastery. Si intento dejar las comparación aparte, El gallo negro me ha parecido una novela simplemente correcta. Henry VIII has left the Catholic church and the country is divided between those faithful to the new Church of England, with Henry VIII as its head, and the Catholic church. Cromwell sends a commissioner to begin the process of dissolving the monastery of Scarnsea on the southern coast of England, but shortly after arriving at Scarnsea the commissioner is murdered.

Lord Cromwell had the trick of staring fixedly at you, unblinking, until you felt compelled to drop your gaze.

A Crown agent beheaded in a monastery is a big deal, it could be the spark that sets off the tinderbox, a whole country up in flames.

I also discovered that a runcible spoon sounds similar to my favourite piece of multi-purpose cutlery, the splade or spork, depending on your preference. It is 1537, Henry VIII has declared himself head of the church of England and the process of dissolving all the monasteries in the country, now the larger and wealthier ones (after some smaller ones earlier on) is on, and Cromwell has appointed commissioners to see to it that this is accomplished. This is especially true within a monastery like Scarnsea, where the monks have had their world and beliefs turned upside down. On the whole the reader is presented with a satisfying detective story which would baffle Scotland Yard’s finest if it were set in a later period.

if only Catherine of Aragon had say had an accident in the bath or had a bit of loose stone masonry fall on her head? Set during the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII, this novel brings this episode in history to life through the character Matthew Shardlake. Dissolution is set in England and the action takes place over a couple of extremely cold and snowy weeks in 1537.Right now it is 1537 and Shardlake can offer some assurances to the abbot that the monastery can still be saved.