Review: Sovereign
Editorial Review - Kirkus ReviewsRenaissance barrister Matthew Shardlake joins Henry VIII's mammoth progress to the rebellious North on a mission from the wily Cardinal Cranmer. In the rainy autumn of 1541, in the city of York, clever, upwardly mobile, hunchback lawyer Shardlake and his trusty Jewish clerk Jack Barak slog through trackless forests with orders to protect an imprisoned rebel from his sadistic jailer. Cardinal Cranmer wants the prisoner brought back alive to London where he can be properly tortured for information about a recent conspiracy to unseat the once-glorious monarch, now obese and limping and on his fifth wife. The gloomy city is seething with resentment as Henry's gigantic entourage approaches. Advance forces have taken over desecrated monasteries to house the thousands of soldiers, lawyers, courtiers, caterers and whores comprising the royal progress, and the Yorkers hate them all. Shardlake quickly stumbles onto the grisly murder of a glazier with ties to the rebellion and then himself becomes the victim of a string of attacks when he finds that the victim was guarding an old jewelry box containing documents that could blow the Tudor succession to bits. He's knocked unconscious before he can read the papers, which quickly vanish, but someone thinks he knows enough to make him a danger. Shardlake has to elude the murderers, avoid his arch-enemy Sir Richard Rich and stay out of the way of the grumpy monarch, whose frisky, much younger wife, Catherine Howard, may be involved in a fatal flirtation. While Jack dallies with a pretty servant from Queen Catherine's retinue, Shardlake gets assistance in his inquiries from a kindly old colleague who knows more about the conspiracy than he lets on. As always, former lawyer Sansom (Dark Fire, 2005, etc.) fleshes out the detection with rich historic details presented at a stately pace. Highly intelligent entertainment.
Review: Sovereign (Matthew Shardlake #3)
User Review - Breezy - GoodreadsConspiracy, suspense, and friendship. Recipe for great books. Which is why I love the Shardlake series. Our protagonist is honorable, incredibly intelligent and passionate. His deformity adds to his ... Read full review
Review: Sovereign (Matthew Shardlake #3)
User Review - Caroline - GoodreadsThis is the third Matthew Shardlake novel I have read, and I wish I had read them all in sequence, not only that, I got a lot of pleasure in reading the last two books together, one after the other ... Read full review
Review: Sovereign (Matthew Shardlake #3)
User Review - Laura C. - GoodreadsAnother Matthew Shardlake mystery, this one involving the great Henry VIII himself. What I really love about Mr. Sansom's novels is that they are both historical novels and captivating mysteries ... Read full review
Review: Sovereign (Matthew Shardlake #3)
User Review - Richard Denning - GoodreadsI have loved each of the Shardlake novels. If you ahe not read any Shardlake starts out as a strong reformist working for Cromwell during the dissolution of the monasteries. In Dissolution he has to ... Read full review
Review: Sovereign (Matthew Shardlake #3)
User Review - Goodreads#3 in the Matthew Shardlake series, and perhaps the best one yet. After his patron Thomas Cromwell's death Shardlake hopes to practice law and remain outside of politics, but he's called upon by ...
Review: Sovereign (Matthew Shardlake #3)
User Review - Gill - GoodreadsThe third part of what I thought was a trilogy, but now find there is a fourth part to read too! Hurrah! This was not a book I expected to enjoy so much, although I was most impressed by his stand ... Read full review
Review: Sovereign (Matthew Shardlake #3)
User Review - Indiana - GoodreadsLoved it! So I jumped right into the third book in the Matthew Shardlake series. This one is a “political thriller” and is set in the autumn of 1541 and takes place amidst Henry VIII's Progress to the ... Read full review
Review: Sovereign (Matthew Shardlake #3)
User Review - Cathie - GoodreadsI thoroughly enjoyed this read. I especially liked Mr. Sansom's handling on the historical background, in this case Henry VIII's marriage to Catherine Howard. The mystery set in this novel was very ... Read full review
