Commissioned by Thomas Cromwell - the King's minister dedicated to. Matthew Shardlake is a London lawyer working through the religious upheaval in the reign of Henry VIII. Dissolution concerns the investigation of a murder in a monastery in Tudor England, just as the monks' world is poised to end. Stephanie Merritt writing for The Guardian commented that the novel is 'more of a grand historical epic than a tightly packed whodunnit.' In a similar vein Andrew Taylor writing for The Spectator praised the book as 'a Tudor epic disguised as an historical crime novel. Detailed plot synopsis reviews of Dissolution. Reception Ĭritical reception for Tombland has been positive. Tombland's etymology is Danish in origin meaning 'empty space' or 'open land', and in the 11th century the area was home to an Anglo-Scandinavian marketplace. The title comes from the Tombland area of Norwich which is just situated outside Norwich Cathedral. During the course of the investigation Shardlake gets involved in Kett's Rebellion. Matthew Shardlake is entrusted by Princess Elizabeth, later Elizabeth I, to investigate the murder of the wife of a distant relative of hers. It is set in a time of great upheaval Henry VIII has declared himself head of the English church, and his ministers are looking at ways of dismantling the power of the priesthood. Set in the summer of 1549, the story deals with the investigation of a murder in Norfolk. Dissolution is the first book in the series, where we meet Matthew Shardlake, a lawyer and occasional fixer for Thomas Cromwell. It is the seventh book in the Matthew Shardlake series, following 2014's Lamentation. Tombland is a historical mystery novel by British author C.

Dissolution cj sansom summary