Revelation: A Matthew Shardlake Mystery (Matthew Shardlake Mysteries) [Hardcover]

C. J. Sansom (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 5, 2009 | Series: Matthew Shardlake Mysteries

The first three Shardlake mysteries have won over critics and readers alike. In Revelation, Sansom's newest book in the series, the year is 1543 and King Henry VIII is wooing Lady Catherine Parr, a woman sympathetic to reform, whom he wants for his sixth wife- much to the dismay of Archbishop Cranmer and the embattled Protestant faction at court. Meanwhile, Matthew Shardlake is working to defend a teenage boy, a religious fanatic who is being held in the infamous Bedlam hospital for the insane. When an old friend of Shardlake's is murdered, he vows to bring the killer to justice. His search leads him back to Bedlam but also to Catherine Parr-and the dark prophecies of the Book of Revelation. As Bishop Bonner prepares to purge London of Protestants, Shardlake, with his assistant Jack Barak, uncovers a series of horrific murders that shake them all to the core. Revelation-the strongest novel in the series to date-is sure to delight Sansom's many fans and bring him to a wider audience.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. In March 1543, while London buzzes about Henry VIII's campaign to win newly widowed Lady Catherine Parr for his sixth wife, hunchbacked barrister Matthew Shardlake has grimmer matters on his mind in Sansom's gripping fourth Tudor historical (after 2007's Sovereign). Not only has his close friend and colleague Roger Elliard been savagely murdered but Shardlake finds himself assigned the incendiary case of a young religious fanatic committed to Bedlam. Learning of a link between Elliard's death and a previous slaying, one touching Lady Catherine's household, he reluctantly agrees to join the top-secret probe by his mentor, Archbishop Cranmer—instantly plunging both himself and his intrepid assistant, Jack Barak, into a maelstrom of political intrigue, spiritual strife and personal peril. With its wealth of period detail, compelling characters and bold, fast-moving plot, this may be the most rousing Shardlake adventure so far. (Feb.)
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From Booklist

In the fourth historical detective novel featuring barrister Matthew Shardlake, Sansom once again demonstrates his consummate knowledge of Tudor England’s politics and culture, and even the sounds and smells of sixteenth-century London’s streets. This time out, the reign of King Henry VIII is in its twilight years, but His Majesty is nevertheless interested in taking a new wife, who would be his sixth. Religious issues continue to clash, as they have during much of his reign—Protestant reformist ideas slamming up against more traditional religious dogma and practices. It is a dangerous time; people “must be careful what they say in public these days.” Shardlake has been assigned a peculiar case: a boy whose religious-oriented rantings have caused him to be incarcerated in a Bedlam hospital for the mentally unstable. When his good friend is found murdered, Shardlake is off and running to connect all the puzzling dots between the two cases. Like its predecessors, this installment in the series is sophisticated entertainment, with an intricately but not confusingly wrought plot. --Brad Hooper

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 560 pages
• Publisher: Viking Adult (February 5, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670020516
• ISBN-13: 978-0670020515
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.5 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (59 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #68,063 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's 1543 London and there's a serial killer stalking the streets...., February 15, 2009

By 

Flush Barrett-Browning (Tennessee Valley) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Revelation: A Matthew Shardlake Mystery (Matthew Shardlake Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Matthew Shardlake, C.J. Sansom's clever protagonist, faces off against a serial killer in 1543 London, in his newest adventure, 'Revelation.' Sansom's Shardlake series, known for its historical accuracy and interesting characters, is carefully plotted and entertaining. Shardlake, the hunchback lawyer, is involved with the embattled Protestant faction he much mistrusts in the pursuit of a serial killer who is knocking off victims in a gruesome manner prescribed by the Biblical book of Revelations.

The characters from the earlier books are all present - Jack Barak and his wife Tamasin, Guy the former monk Moorish physician - but they are far more than stock figures - their lives are complicated, and they develop and change with each book. Jack and Tamasin are having problems in their marriage, and Guy has taken in an apparently likeable apprentice whom Matthew distrusts. Matthew himself is thinking of the possibility of love and marriage.

Sixteenth century London comes alive under Sansom's pen, and Matthew remains one of fiction's more compelling, unique, and sympathetic heroes.

On a personal level, I found the serial killings to be gruesome enough to make me uncomfortable and I found myself skipping over some passages. I deducted one star for this, although it probably won't bother most readers.

For readers who haven't read any of the series, think about starting at the beginning. It's a great series. The characters develop and their relationships change. It's 'Dissolution,' 'Dark Fire,' 'Sovereign,' and 'Revelation.'

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Solid Story --Not the Best of the Series, May 28, 2008

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ZenReader "ZenReader" (washington,dc) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Revelation (Hardcover)

Of the four books in the series this one is best left to be read last. Each of the first three are meant to be very different style mysteries. This book is a mixture of the second and third books style with alot of social commentary added in. Don't get me wrong I read the book in four days and enjoyed every page but for me I knew the characters and setting so well that it moved along quite quickly. The weakness of this book is that the author chose to add several story lines that would highlight a more modern way of thinking than possible for people of this period. From psychology to relationships these lines detract from the action and at points your meant to believe they were ahead of Freud in their thinking. Even the medicince seemed alittle to enlightened. I guess you can debate these points but they do provide some unsettling moments in the book which I found detracting. I gave it 5 stars. Would recommend it to anyone who enjoyed the other three. Would not recommend it to anyone just starting the series.

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "The man we hunted was surely a monster in human form.", March 8, 2009

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E. Bukowsky "booklover10" (NY United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Revelation: A Matthew Shardlake Mystery (Matthew Shardlake Mysteries) (Hardcover)

C. J. Sansom's "Revelation" takes place in 1543, a tumultuous year in English history. Religious fanaticism is on the rise among Protestants and Catholics alike; Henry VIII, who is ailing, has been urging Lady Catherine Parr to become his sixth wife, but she is reluctant to accept his proposal; the chasm between rich and poor is huge, with filthy, starving, and often mentally ill beggars crowding the thoroughfares. The homeless are everywhere, and "most people simply looked away, made the sufferers invisible." The sick often die in the streets, since there is no hospital care for the destitute.

In this, the fourth installment in Sansom's splendid series, the narrator, forty-year old lawyer Matthew Shardlake, seems to have finally found peace of mind. Although he has a humpback that still attracts stares and the occasional taunt, Matthew has secured a good position as one of two barristers appointed to plead before the Court of Requests. He enjoys his work and makes enough money to pay a housekeeper, eat well, and dress in fine robes. Although he has no wife, he does have many loyal friends whom he values. Unfortunately, trouble is brewing, and Matthew's equanimity is about to be shattered.

One of Shardlake's closest friends is found brutally slaughtered in a public place. Since the victim had no enemies, the killing appears to be a random act of violence. Soon, however, the authorities discover that there have been other similar crimes. Matthew joins forces with Archbishop Cranmer and his inner circle to identify and apprehend a serial killer who uses the book of Revelation as a blueprint for torturing and murdering his victims. Adding to Matthew's worries, he has a new and troubling client, Adam Kite, a seventeen-year-old who prays obsessively, rails loudly "with strange moans and shrieks" in public, and has been placed in Bedlam, the infamous asylum, on the Privy Council's orders. Shardlake is also concerned about his loyal assistant, Jack Barak. Jack married the lovely Tamasin and all seemed well until they lost their baby at birth. Since then, the couple has been quarreling incessantly, and Barak spends more time at the pubs than he does with his lonely and depressed wife.

Sansom has immersed himself in the geography, sociology, culture, politics, and theology of London in the sixteenth century and his writing is the richer for it. "Revelation" is more than five hundred pages long, and the story unfolds gradually; but the patient reader will be compensated for his perseverance. Matthew Shardlake is a marvelous and original creation. Although he is not handsome or physically powerful, he has keen intelligence, insight, compassion, loyalty, and great inner strength. He repeatedly puts himself at risk to track a madman who is as clever as he is sadistic. Another appealing character is Matthew's close friend, Dr. Guy Malton, an excellent physician who uses his knowledge of medicines, herbs, and human anatomy to alleviate his patients' suffering. Matthew would be lost without Guy's able assistance. The secondary characters are, as usual, beautifully portrayed, including Ellen, an agoraphobic who, while confined to Bedlam, takes care of her fellow inmates; Dorothy Elliard, a sweet-natured and attractive woman whom Matthew has loved for years; Archbishop Cranmer, a commanding figure who must weigh his actions carefully, lest he incur the King's displeasure; and Piers, Guy's apprentice and protégé, a bright and calculating boy whom Matthew distrusts.

"Revelation" is a well-researched and complex novel that brings an unsettled era in London to brilliant life; it is a suspenseful and exciting murder mystery with an explosive ending; and it is an unflinching look at the evils of racial, religious, and class prejudice. The plot may be too busy for those who like their books lean, but the author balances his many subplots and large cast with Dickensian flair. With its lively dialogue, evocative setting, detailed descriptive passages, and engrossing themes, "Revelation" is a rich and rewarding work of historical fiction that shows why C. J. Sansom has garnered such a devoted following.