Thursday, June 30, 2011

Heartstone: A Matthew Shardlake Tudor Mystery : San Francisco Book ...

By?C. J. Sansom
Viking,$27.95,634 pages

Epic historical mystery fiction is what you find when you pick up the latest Matthew Shardlake mystery from C.J. Sansom. Set in 1545, with the French fleet bearing down on England?s shores, attorney Matthew Shardlake is sent by Queen Catherine Parr to investigate a wardship that one of her old servant?s sons said was horrific before he committed suicide. Just what was wrong with the child or the way he was being treated, he never revealed, so Shardlake is given the task of finding out what is happening at the Hobbey household near Portsmouth.

Shardlake is also using the trip to investigate a more personal case. Ellen Fettiplace, resident of the madhouse, Bedlam, has been there for almost 20 years without ever being legally committed. Something horrible happened to her at Rolfswood, near Portsmouth, but she won?t talk about it and her keepers are paid well to keep mum as well.

Heartstone is a large book, filled with many mysterious twists and turns, completely colored by Tudor history, and peopled with characters that are so real that you feel like you can reach out and touch them. This reader is in awe over Sansom?s mastery.

Reviewed by?Gwen Stackler

Source: http://www.sanfranciscobookreview.com/mystery-crime-thrillers/heartstone-a-matthew-shardlake-tudor-mystery/

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