November 21, 14.37pm
It appears the curse of Matthew Shardlake that he lives in interesting times.
Shardlake, the hunchback hero of CJ Sansom's Tudor mystery novels, begins the third of an increasingly confident and engaging series, content with the peace of his legal work at Lincoln's Inn, having previously been exposed, almost fatally, to the dangers of the politics of the court of King Henry VIII. (Dark Fire)
But having vowed to keep his head down (and therefore on), Shardlake is drawn back to court at the request of Archbishop Cranmer, who asks Shardlake to travel to York to join the Great Progress of the King and participate in some legal business whilst also taking into his care a Yorkist conspirator currently holed up in prison and destined for the dreaded Tower.
And so, with his companion Barak in tow, Shardlake heads north into a veritable maelstrom of conspiracy, counter-conspiracy, politicking, religion, greed, sex, lies and manuscripts. And also for the first time it brings Shardlake into contact with the King, now on his fifth wife.
Shardlake quickly finds himself looking into a pair of crimes - the murder of a glazier knocking Papist-oriented (and therefore subversive) stained glass out of a church in preparation for the King's arrival, and the attempted poisoning of the prisoner he has been detailed to take to London. The pursuit of the first of these leads Shardlake to a chest full of papers that appear part of the northern conspiracy to dethrone Henry.
While these crimes and Shardlake's investigation is the focus of the narrative of Sovereign, theheart and soul of this wonderful novel is the rich, intricate historical tapestry that Sansom weaves. The crimes themselves appear merely as tools to allow Shardlake to be led into the corrupt heart of the court.
And what a place that is. The huge King, gone to seed and unable to spread his seed. The girl Queen with her popinjay admirers. The property speculators hoovering up every last piece of monkish and conspirator land by whatever means they can. And snakes everywhere, seeking the ear of the King and creating a disturbing, seething atmosphere of mistrust and betrayal where one wrong look, one wrong word can land you in the tower.
Sansom navigates a sure path for Shardlake through the stinking quagmire ith a story that keeps moving at a relentless pace, providing a corkscrew ride of twists and turns.
Sovereign is a terrific novel and more than marks Sansom out as the best historical thriler writer of his day.