By Paul Carrier
Matthew Shardlake is back! It's been several years since the reluctant sleuth's previous appearance in Heartstone, so his return in Lamentation is both overdue and more than welcome.
London, 1546. Shardlake, a seasoned barrister and the central character in five previous mysteries by C. J. Sansom, is quietly trying to practice law far from the political and religious firestorms that roil Tudor England. Fortunately for devotees of this sophisticated series, Shardlake is thrust into the fray yet again when he finds himself investigating the theft of a secret manuscript written by Henry VIII’s sixth and last wife, Catherine Parr. The stakes are high, because the queen's fate may hinge on whether the stolen volume sees the light of day.
London, 1546. Shardlake, a seasoned barrister and the central character in five previous mysteries by C. J. Sansom, is quietly trying to practice law far from the political and religious firestorms that roil Tudor England. Fortunately for devotees of this sophisticated series, Shardlake is thrust into the fray yet again when he finds himself investigating the theft of a secret manuscript written by Henry VIII’s sixth and last wife, Catherine Parr. The stakes are high, because the queen's fate may hinge on whether the stolen volume sees the light of day.
The king, who is slowly dying, has broken with the papacy and placed himself at the head of the Church of England, but his kingdom is far from united on matters of religion. English Christianity has splintered into factions that run the gamut from revolutionary to conservative Protestantism, not to mention the closeted Catholics who hope to reassert the pope’s authority.
These are dangerous times. Radicals who break with the king on matters of theology are arrested, tortured and burned at the stake. But the king is fickle, and power swings, pendulum-like, between reformers and traditionalists, all of whom are trying to position themselves to control the realm once Henry is gone and his young son Edward assumes the throne.
Against that backdrop, Queen Catherine has penned a radical religious tract — Lamentation of a Sinner — without Henry’s knowledge. She keeps it under lock and key in her chamber, but somehow, a thief makes off with it. This lone copy of the manuscript finds its way into the hands of a reform-minded London printer, from whose shop it disappears when the printer is murdered. Later, the victim’s apprentice, a fellow radical, is murdered as well.
If Catherine’s book becomes public, or if it falls into Henry’s hands, she may well lose her head. Literally. It isn't so much her religious views that pose a problem as the very real risk that Henry will view her as disloyal for having written the book without his knowledge. Recalling a previous encounter with Shardlake, and his skill as an investigator, a terrified Catherine seeks his help in finding and retrieving the manuscript, before it is too late.
Ignoring his better judgment, Shardlake wades into these potentially deadly waters, in part because he is secretly in love with the queen. This principled, well-intentioned bachelor, a hunchback who is often mocked for his deformity, doesn't much care about religious squabbles; he is a onetime reformer who no longer has strong views on such matters. (“I seldom prayed nowadays,” he tells readers, “even if God existed, I was sure that he was deaf.”) But he holds the queen in such high regard that he feels compelled to assist her.
Sansom, who has a PhD in history, does a remarkable job of combining deft storytelling and historical accuracy. (A 21-page author’s note provides plenty of background information.) What’s almost as impressive as Lamentation’s layered plot and nuanced characterization is Sansom’s revealing look at government-imposed orthodoxy, which held an entire nation hostage during the later years of Henry’s reign.
It’s disconcerting to see how religion, perhaps more than anything other than class, determined English attitudes during this period. The notion that government should not be in the business of dictating beliefs would have been viewed as madness by virtually everyone with any standing, regardless of their differences on matters of faith and politics.
At 600-plus pages in hardcover, Lamentation is a tad long. There's much periodic lamenting on the part of Shardlake and his allies about the pace of their investigation into the theft and murders. Still, this is a solid and satisfying addition to the series, which has won well-deserved accolades over the years from fans with impressive credentials of their own.
The late crime writer P. D. James said of an earlier Shardlake novel that “the sights, the voices, the very smell of this turbulent age seem to rise from the page.” Philippa Gregory, the historical novelist, has said that Shardlake is “a convincingly realistic Tudor detective” who draws readers into “the darker corners of history.”
The Shardlake series is blessed with a likable protagonist, a strong supporting cast, a precisely etched setting, and well-crafted storylines. In Lamentation, Sansom continues to build suspense even after the murderers are identified. Who employed the killers? What did they do with the manuscript? Only near the close of the novel do we finally meet the mastermind behind these crimes, and discover what the future may hold for Matthew Shardlake. The wait is worthwhile, on both counts.
