Customer Reviews
Great book - By: A. L. Mcleod, 07 Jan 2009 
I really enjoyed this book, & have subsequently enjoyed everything else I have read by this author. This book has it all for me, murder, political intrigue, religious zeal, romance & Tudor England. He captures the feel of the time very well, the historical detail is excellent. It comes as no surprise to find he is a historian! I highly recommend this book.
This book is a must!!!!!! - By: David Taylor, 26 Dec 2008 If you have any interestin medieval England, then this book is a must. Sansom interweves fictional & non fictional characters into a fictional & non fictional story line. I'm not going to give a brief explanation of the book's story line, that you can find anywhere on Amazon. Most, if not all of them, highly recommend this book. Just read the book & enjoy!!!!!
Too long by far - By: P. L. Edwards, 29 Nov 2008 
Don't get me wrong; this is a great read. The atmosphere created by the author really makes you feel as though you're stuckin a Tudor monasteryin the middle of a blizzard yourself....and you feel as though you need to continue with the book because of this.
Sadly I feel that it's over long & drawn out. 420 pages could have been trimmed down easily without losing any of the main plot.
One other thing....I found it difficult to follow the plot when all of the main suspects are called Brother something.
Great Murder Mystery set in tudor times - By: T. Hinchcliffe-lancaster, 24 Nov 2008 I absolutely loved this book. I was so sad when it finished! The characters come to life effortlessly, & you really do sympathise with Shardlake. He is a lovely character & you're rooting for him all the way through. Although a lot of the book is set inside the monastery, the scenes bring to life how hard life must have been for people & you get sucked into the day to day struggles of the characters.
I recommend this to anyone who loves good, gritty, intelligent historic fiction.
I am already half way through Dark Fire & it's not disappointing!
Monks and mayhem on the south coast.... - By: Gerald T. Walford, 19 Nov 2008 
Plenty of people have compared this book to Eco's Name of the Rose, which is a little unfair (ratherin the way every single fantasy book is somehow related back to JRRTolkien)as that sets some pretty big boots to fill! The parallells are sometimes very strong- no spoilers- but this is a very different book, & for me lacks the intensity, originality & dazzling plot of the former. But enough about Eco! This is a well written & capable story, the characters are simply sketched & develop with the plot. Everything is carefully set up & Sansom is someone who knows his stuff. It reads just like what its meant to be: a report by a careful & officious clerk, though I think it looses dramatic potential for it at times. The ending is rather too neat & predictable, & I find the lead characters agnosticism & postmodernism rather garishly anachronistic. It ticks all the boxes, but won't upset any apple-carts. Perfect for a winters reading by ther fire.....
