I’m slowly making my way through genres: today, historical mysteries! I’ve recently read the first two Shardlake books by CJ Sansom, which follow the investigations of a lawyer in England during Henry VIII’s reign. The first book, Dissolution, sees Shardlake look into a murder of a government official in a monastery. The second, Dark fire features two investigations, one into the disappearance of the recently re-discovered formula for the dreaded Greek fire, and the other into a teenage girl accused of murdering her young cousin.

This period was so unsettled (monasteries were being dissolved, new Queens constantly on the horizon) that it provides a lot of scope for suspense. Sansom gives a vivid account of the political turmoil of the time and the atmosphere at both the monastery and London. To my largely ignorant mind the books appear to be well researched.

While some of the side characters are well done (I admit a fondness for the sidekick in Dark Fire who swears a lot) others were a bit more stock standard (such as the Wise Moorish Medicine Man). And while I’m complaining, although it becomes clear that Shardlake is starting to lose faith in the righteousness of the reformation, a lot of his feelings are left to be constructed by the reader. I wouldn’t mind a greater focus on this through the stories, though I can see that other people might not appreciate the slowing down of the whole investigation part of the novels.

I think Dark Fire had better pacing and a more intriguing storyline. It would work fine as a standalone novel so have no qualms about recommending people jump straight to it.

Tags: books, historical, mystery, sansom