The Shardlake Series 5 Books Set Collection C.J. Sansom, Dissolution, Dark Fire

Dissolution

It is 1537; a time of revolution that sees the greatest changes in England since 1066. Henry VIII has proclaimed himself Supreme Head of the Church and the country is waking up to savage new laws; rigged trials and the greatest network of informers ever seen. Under the order of Thomas Cromwell; a team of commissioners is sent through the country to investigate the monasteries. There can only be one outcome: the monasteries are to be dissolved. But on the Sussex coast; at the monastery of Scarnsea; events have spiralled out of control. Cromwell's Commissioner Robin Singleton; has been found dead; his head severed from his body. His horrific murder is accompanied by equally sinister acts of sacrilege - a black cockerel sacrificed on the altar; and the disappearance of Scarnsea's Great Relic.

Dark Fire

It is 1540 and the hottest summer of the sixteenth century. Matthew Shardlake; believing himself out of favour with Thomas Cromwell; is busy trying to maintain his legal practice and keep a low profile. But his involvement with a murder case; defending a girl accused of brutally murdering her young cousin; brings him once again into contact with the king's chief minister and a new assignment . . . The secret of Greek Fire; the legendary substance with which the Byzantines destroyed the Arab navies; has been lost for centuries. Now an official of the Court of Augmentations has discovered the formula in the library of a dissolved London monastery. When Shardlake is sent to recover it; he finds the official and his alchemist brother horribly murdered the formula has disappeared.

Sovereign

Autumn; 1541. King Henry VIII has set out on a spectacular Progress to the North to attend an extravagant submission of his rebellious subjects in York. Already in the city are lawyer Matthew Shardlake and his assistant Jack Barak. As well as assisting with legal work processing petitions to the King; Shardlake has reluctantly undertaken a special mission for the Archbishop Cranmer to ensure the welfare of an important but dangerous conspirator being returned to London for interrogation.

Revelation

Spring; 1543. King Henry VIII is wooing Lady Catherine Parr; whom he wants for his sixth wife. But this time the object of his affections is resisting. Archbishop Cranmer and the embattled Protestant faction at court are watching keenly; for Lady Catherine is known to have reformist sympathies. Matthew Shardlake; meanwhile; is working on the case of a teenage boy; a religious maniac locked in the Bedlam hospital for the insane. Should he be released to his parents; when his terrifying actions could lead to him being burned as a heretic?

Heartstone

Summer; 1545. England is at war. Henry VIII's invasion of France has gone badly wrong; and a massive French fleet is preparing to sail across the Channel. As the English fleet gathers at Portsmouth; the country raises the largest militia army it has ever seen. The King has debased the currency to pay for the war; and England is in the grip of soaring inflation and economic crisis. Meanwhile Matthew Shardlake is given an intriguing legal case by an old servant of Queen Catherine Parr. Asked to investigate claims of 'monstrous wrongs' committed against a young ward of the court; which have already involved one mysterious death; Shardlake and his assistant Barak journey to Portsmouth.