[Dark Fire Review] Dissolution C.J. Sansom Macmillan £6.99 pbk Rel: Aug 2004 Reviewed by John Escott

It arrived with a thud on my doormat. Thicker than a brick, but in soft covers. Not just one book but two - proof copies back-to-back in one volume, both by an author I`d never heard of. And both, I discovered to my dismay, historical crime novels. I confess straight away that I`m not keen on historical crime. I enjoy historical novels and I relish a good crime story. But put the two together - history/crime - and generally speaking it`s a turn-off. Cadfael leaves me cold. Falco fails to thrill me. So, to read that Dissolution was set in the year 1537, at the time of the Reformation, and the second book, Dark Fire, three years later, was not encouraging. I was prepared for a long hard slog.

How wrong I was. Dissolution held me from page one. Once I started it, I resented all interruptions. It`s one of those books where you need a `Go Away - Do Not Disturb` notice to hang round your neck whilst your reading. The sleuth, hunchback Matthew Shardlake, is a lawyer and, at the beginning, a supporter of Thomas Cromwell and the dissolution of the monasteries. He is sent to investigate the murder (by beheading) of Commissioner Robin Singleton. The latter was killed whilst attempting to enforce the `voluntary` surrender of a Benedictine monastery at Scarnsea on the Kent-Sussex border. Some cloistered assassin is at work inside the monastic walls, it seems.

But Shardlake has not been in Scarnsea long before more deaths occur, and the hate-filled atmosphere of the monastery begin to bear down on him and his young assistant, Mark Poer. Shardlake eventually begins to question his own belief in Cromwell`s ethics, and some of the methods the latter uses to obtain the results he desires to keep in King Henry the Eighth`s good books. As the investigation progresses, Shardlake begins to suffer from dissolution of a more personal nature.

This is a splendid murder mystery by any standards and I move on to Dark Fire with eager anticipation.

[Dissolution Review] Dark Fire C.J. Sansom Macmillan £16.99 hbk Rel: Nov 2004 Reviewed by John Escott

1540, three years after his hazardous mission to Scarnsea (in the book Dissolution), and Matthew Shardlake is once again commanded by Thomas Cromwell to tackle a new and even more dangerous assignment. Greek Fire is a lethal but unknown liquid used in warfare eight hundred years before the time of Henry the Eighth by Byzantine emperors. It creates a rushing, inextinguishable fire that burns on water and can set enemy ships ablaze in seconds. The formula for its creation was kept a close secret and was eventually lost. But now it has resurfaced and King Henry wants it. Cromwell`s position is threatened by the resurgence of a catholic faction, led by the Duke of Norfolk, and he needs to be able to find the secret of Greek Fire to curry favour with the king and save his hide.

Enter Shardlake, who is given the task of finding the lethal weapon and, as things turn out, of uncovering a deadly plot against Cromwell. At the same time, on a separate case, he has to save the life of a young woman who refuses to save herself. She is accused of killing her young cousin, but Shardlake is convinced there is more to this mystery than meets the eye.

In no time at all, all those connected with Greek Fire (also known as Dark Fire) are turning up dead, and the threat to Shardlake and the man Cromwell has appointed to assist him, Barak, intensifies.

In a superb blend of historical fact and fiction, this page-turner of a suspense thriller builds to a satisfying denouement which leaves you impatient for more tales of the luckless but appealing Shardlake. I hope Mr Sansom has plenty more plots up his sleeve.