Heartstone

Heartstone

by C . J . Sansom (Author)

Synopsis

It's Summer, 1545. England is at war. Henry VIII's invasion of France has gone badly wrong, and a massive French fleet is preparing to sail across the Channel. As the English fleet gathers at Portsmouth, the country raises the largest militia army it has ever seen. The King has debased the currency to pay for the war, and England is in the grip of soaring inflation and economic crisis. Meanwhile Matthew Shardlake is given an intriguing legal case by an old servant of Queen Catherine Parr. Asked to investigate claims of 'monstrous wrongs' committed against a young ward of the court, which have already involved one mysterious death, Shardlake and his assistant Barak journey to Portsmouth. Once arrived, Shardlake and Barak find themselves in a city preparing to become a war zone; and Shardlake takes the opportunity to also investigate the mysterious past of Ellen Fettipace, a young woman incarcerated in the Bedlam. The emerging mysteries around the young ward, and the events that destroyed Ellen's family nineteen years before, involve Shardlake in reunions both with an old friend and an old enemy close to the throne. Events will converge on board one of the King's great warships, primed for battle in Portsmouth harbour...

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 450
Publisher: Mantle
Published: 04 Mar 2011

ISBN 10: 023074415X
ISBN 13: 9780230744158
Prizes: Shortlisted for Galaxy National Book Awards: Thriller & Crime Novel of the Year in association with ibookstore 2011 and CWA Ellis Peters Historical Award 2010.

Media Reviews
Engrossing.
-- The Spectator (UK)

Atmospheric and erudite . . . . Not since Umberto Eco penned The Name of the Rose has a historical crime novelist captured so perfectly a people and their place, and harnessed them with such intelligence and credibility to shadowy tales of politics, misdeeds, murder and mystery.
-- Lancashire Evening Post

An enthralling historical crime novel packed with details of life in Tudor England. Highly recommended.
-- Irish Independent
Compulsively readable and highly satisfying. . . . An entirely engrossing novel with an intriguing twist.
-- Daily Express

This wonderful Tudor-era series is must reading for any devotee of historical mysteries.
-- Margaret Cannon, The Globe and Mail
Another fascinating story from a gifted author.
-- London Free Press
A rousing tour de force of period re-creation, testifying to Sansom's fascination with history. . . . Like all the
Author Bio
C. J. Sansom was educated at Birmingham University, where he took a BA and then a Ph.D. in history. He lives in Sussex.