Shardlake

In 1537 Thomas Cromwell is obeying King Henry VIII's order that all monasteries be dissolved. Many monks are opposed to this, and when Cromwell's Commissioner is found dead, Matthew Shardlake is sent to uncover the truth. Book 1 of series.

In 1540 Matthew Shardlake, believing himself out of favour with Thomas Cromwell, is trying to keep a low profile and concentrate on his legal practice. His involvement in a prominent murder case brings him back into Cromwell's sights, and he is given a new assignment by the most devious politician in England. Book 2 of series.

In Autumn 1541, Henry VIII and his new queen, Catherine Howard, make a royal Progress to the North, ending in York. Matthew Shardlake and Jack Barak are already in the city, on a mission for Archbishop Cranmer. When a glazier is murdered Shardlake finds himself in close, but dangerous, proximity to the Royal Court. Book 3 of series.

An old servant of Catherine Parr gives Matthew Shardlake an intriguing case involving claims of ‘monstrous wrongs’ committed against a ward of the court. Shardlake and his assistant Barak travel to Portsmouth where they find a city about to become a war zone. Shardlake also takes on the case of Ellen Fettipace, a young woman held in the Bedlam. Book 5 of series.

England, 1549: Two years after the death of Henry VIII, England is sliding into chaos . . .  The nominal king, Edward VI, is eleven years old. His uncle Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, rules as Protector. The extirpation of the old religion by radical Protestants is stirring discontent among the populace while the Protector's prolonged war with Scotland is proving a disastrous failure and threatens to involve France. Worst of all, the economy is in collapse, inflation rages and rebellion is stirring among the peasantry. Since the old King's death, Matthew Shardlake has been working as a lawyer in the service of Henry's younger daughter, the Lady Elizabeth. The gruesome murder of Edith Boleyn, the wife of John Boleyn - a distant Norfolk relation of Elizabeth's mother - which could have political implications for Elizabeth, brings Shardlake and his assistant Nicholas Overton to the summer assizes at Norwich. There they are reunited with Shardlake's former assistant Jack Barak. The three find layers of mystery and danger surrounding Edith's death, as a second murder is committed.

And then East Anglia explodes, as peasant rebellion breaks out across the country. The yeoman Robert Kett leads a force of thousands in overthrowing the landlords and establishing a vast camp outside Norwich. Soon the rebels have taken over the city, England's second largest. Barak throws in his lot with the rebels; Nicholas, opposed to them, becomes a prisoner in Norwich Castle; while Shardlake has to decide where his ultimate loyalties lie, as government forces in London prepare to march north and destroy the rebels. Meanwhile he discovers that the murder of Edith Boleyn may have connections reaching into both the heart of the rebel camp and of the Norfolk gentry . . .  Book 7 of series.