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Dissolution (Matthew Shardlake 1)

Author: C.j. Sansom
Publisher: Pan Books
Category: Book

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Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

52 reviews
Sales Rank: 32

Media: Paperback
Pages: 300
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 4.9 x 1.4

ISBN: 0330450794
EAN: 9780330450799
ASIN: 0330450794

Publication Date: May 18, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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Customer Reviews:

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Excellent! February 4, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

Dissolution is set in the 1530s, a time of great religious change in England. Cromwell's commissioner, Robin Singleton, has been found murdered, in the monastery, he was sent to investigate, at Scarnsea, on the Sussex coast. Lawyer, Matthew Shardlake, and his assistant Mark Poer have been sent to the monastery, to uncover the murderer.

I found this book a fascinating read. The descriptions, and attention to detail in the book really bring the Tudor era to life. You can almost feel the atmosphere of impending doom and desperation in the monastery, as the monastic way of life draws to its end, after hundreds of years.

The characters in the book are very interesting too, and fairly well fleshed out. It is a real 'whodunnit', and my suspicions went from one person to another, a few times, before the end. I would definiely recommend this book.

3 out of 5 stars

Shardlake set's off (but quite slowly) February 1, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

Dissolution is the first book in historical novelist C.J. Sansom's Matthew Shardlake series. This book is a medieval whodunnit, set in the reign of Henry VIII shortly after the beheading of Anne Boleyn and during the collapse of the traditional Catholic Church in England. Shardlake is set the task of uncovering the murderer of a fellow government official at Scarnsea Monastery.

This story is very well written by Sansom and it's not at all difficult to read, therefore it's quite enjoyable. However, some aspects of the book are very predictable and Matthew Shardlake is not the most likeable lead character i've ever come across. Dissolution is also incredible frustrating as it seems to take Shardlake a great deal longer than the reader to work some puzzles out.

On the whole, this book is an interesting read - but it's by no means fantastic. I still feel it will be worth trying the next book in the series, as this is after all Sansom's first novel.

3 out of 5 stars

None so blind as he... January 19, 2008
2 out of 4 found this review helpful

I like crime stories, I like history and I enjoyed this book for the most part. It is escapism - transporting me, for a brief period, to a set of circumstances far outside my own experience. I enjoyed that best of all.

As previous reviewers have pointed out, the central character, Shardlake, is not an endearing character. Then again, none of the characters are particularly likeable. Certainly not his side-kick, Mark, the fair of face and stinky of feet Lothario who's petulant, immature behaviour helps to drive the wider plot.

The most frustrating aspect of the book is how Shardlake resolutely refused to recognise the person whodunit despite the fact that all the clues were there by two-thirds of the way through. It was blindingly obvious to me but not to the 'commissioner'. You could argue that he wouldn't want to consider that particular possibility but I fail to be convinced. I was equally unconvinced by Shardlake's ambivalent attitude towards Brother Gabriel aka the only gay in the village...er...monastery.

As for historical accuracy? I understood that Anne Boleyn required several chops to behead her and not just one swish of the executioner's sword as we are told here. Or am I wrong?

More of a three and a half than a three (but I don't have that option) the book is competently written and worth a read .

5 out of 5 stars

A great series opener! January 12, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

"Dissolution" is the first in a series by C.J. Sansom and it features Matthew Shardlake, commissioner/lawyer in the employ of Henry VIII's vicar-general, Thomas Cromwell. It is the debut of a promising series, a police procedural, if you will, set in the 16th century, amidst the turbulence of this pre-Elizabethan time. Henry, obsessed with clearing out all the papists (those who still put their allegiance with the pope rather than with their king), at all Machiavellian costs, is surrounded by sycophants (what else is new?) who zealously follow his demands, at all costs. This was not a good time for the English.

One of Lord Cromwell's officials has been brutally murdered (beheaded, in keeping with the times) at a monastery he is investigating in Scarnsea and Shardlake is dispatched not only to find the killer but to finish up the commissioner's business, basically securing the surrender and final capitulation of this wealthy church. Saddled with his trusty aid, Mark Poer, Shardlake sets off in the dead of winter and what he finds merely multiplies the original crime: religious fanaticism, fraud, duplicity, crimes against nature, cruelty, you name it. In the 390 pages, Sansom treats us to full fare of 16th century England, warts (and there are lots of them) and all.

Shardlake is no ordinary king's man, of course. A brilliant man, he too is crippled by the times. He a hunchback who frequently suffers "the slings and arrows of outrageous" mockery and abuse, in spite of his brilliant successes. Sansom is adept in giving us the lessons of Job.

The author, too, gives us more than a murder mystery. During the chase, he weaves cleverly and adroitly into his narrative some of the more ingenuous aspects of Christian England. It is the time of the English Reformation, based upon more than one ideal. Since Ethelbert was converted by Augustine in the 4th century, corruption seemed to have been a common characteristic of the Church in England and when Henry finds the only way to get his divorce from Catherine of Aragon, he convinces, by hook, crook, bell and candle, the citizens that Catholicism is bad, evil, corrupt, you name it. And, as students of history know, he succeeds in having himself established as head of his own church and, of course, history, there, has not been the same.

In Scarnsea, however, Shardlake is baffled. It seems everyone is a suspect in the monastery, yet no one seems to fit the bill as "guilty" of the crime. Through diligence and quick wit, he and Mark begin to unearth a plethora of irregularities and as each is revealed, the killer (or killers) become more dangerous. Before a week's over, more bodies, all pointing to murder, murder that eventually involves court intrigue and participation. "Reform," Shardlake thinks, "was being built on an edifice of lies and monstrous brutality." How little he was to know. "This new world," he commiserates, " was no Christian commonwealth; it never would be. It was in truth no better than the old, no less ruled by power and vanity." Sansom strongly (and without a doubt) nurtures this theme throughout.

Sansom's narrative is fascinating, at times even mesmerizing, and the story moves at a fast pace. The author's history-lesson background does not impede the story and even if the reader is not well versed in this period of history, the storyline stands on its own. Possibly the strongest point of the novel is the character of Shardlake: a devoted man to the king's cause, even idealistic at time despite the reader's abhorrence at some of his blind actions in the name of the king. Before the story ends, however, Sansom reigns in his character, thus setting him up beautifully for the series. Sansom seems true to his characterization of Cromwell, who, of course, eventually comes to a dead end with Henry, although not in this series, at least not yet. The "creatures" Henry promoted (Cromwell, Richard Rich, Cardinal Wolsey, et al.) eventually are toppled and that knowledge helps the reader tolerate their cruelty as the story evolves. The evil and cruel practices, of course, were not limited to the 16th century, but the reminder is still relevant.

4 out of 5 stars

Interesting from a historical perspective January 11, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

I enjoyed this but it wasn't brilliant. The history was great and very educational. The writing was good too. The plot and suspense could have been better though as I thought it was really obvious who done it!