CJ Sansom - Dark Fire (reviewed on 2nd October)

The English Reformation was the series of events in 16th century England by which the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church. The English Reformation began as another chapter in the long running dispute with the Catholic Church over the latter's claimed jurisdiction over the English people, though ostensibly based on Henry VIII's desire for an annulment. The split from Rome made the English monarch head of the English church by "Royal Supremacy", thereby making the Church of England the established church of the nation. The structure and theology of the church was a matter of fierce dispute for generations. It led eventually to civil war, the Dissolution of the Monasteries was begun in 1536, the revenue was used by Henry to help build coastal defences against expected invasion, and all their land was given to the Crown or sold to the aristocracy.

King Henry wants to divorce his 4th wife Ann of Cleves to Mary Catherine Howard. Henry felt he had been duped by Cromwell into marrying her. Cromwell did not want the divorce to happen as he felt marrying Howard would push England back to the papist as she was related to the Duke of Norfolk who was a supporter of the papists. Cromwell needs to get back into Henrys favour. It is with this background in the sweltering summer of 1540 that we meet the main character of the story ‘Shardlake’ a hunchback lawyer. He has been avoiding politics and has been building up his small legal practice .
Shardlake is approached to take on a murder case by Joseph, a man who’s neice has been found guilty of a murder he is sure she did not commit,.. that of his brothers son. She has days left before she will be put to death or brutally tortured.
However, Cromwell needs Shardlake to look for the secret of the Dark or Greek Fire’ which burns on water & can engulf a whole building in minutes. It was first used by the Byzantines to destroy the Arab navies. If the formulae for this can be found it would make a wonderful weapon of mass destruction and get Cromwell back in King Henrys good favour. Cromwell has only 12 days before he is to appear before the King and demonstrate this Greek Fire. Cromwell holds Shardlake in high esteem so sends his servant John Barak to summon him. Shardlake does not have an option, he has to take the case and the permanent assistance of Barak.
Shardlake finds himself the victim of several murder attempts and discovers those with the knowledge of the Greek Fire brutally murdered before he gets to them.
Shardlake is juggling his time looking for Cromwells formulae and representing the girl imprisoned for murder as Shardlake, too, believes she is innocent. Time is running out fast as we travel through Tudor London on the hottest summer in a century.
This is the first CJ Sansom book I have read and it won’t be the last. Each time I started to read it I felt as though I was living in Tudor England, I could smell the hot putrid air, I could see the streets. I found the whole backdrop so interesting, the political/religious turmoil. The women blackening their teeth to give the impression they had the wealth to buy sugar or using belladonna eye drops to enlarge their pupils to make them look more attractive to potential suitors.
The main characters Shardlake and Barak were so different yet so likeable. Shardlake is a great fiction character.
If you have even just a passing interest in historical fiction, particularly Tudor London, and you enjoy a gripping mystery with twists, turns and and mixes of real names in history such as Richard Rich, Thomas Cromwell and the Duke of Norfolk, an overview of Henry VIII and his wives plus fictional colourful characters you will love this book.