16th-century 21st-century british british-mystery catholic catholic-church crime crime-fiction detective elizabethan england english english-fiction english-history europe fic fiction general henry-viii historical historical-fiction historical-mystery historical-novel krimi law literature london monastery monks murder-mystery mysteries mystery novel reformation religion series sixteenth-century tudor tudor-england

Exciting and elegantly written, Dissolution is an utterly compelling first novel and a riveting portrayal of Tudor England. The year is 1537, and the country is divided between those faithful to the Catholic Church and those loyal to the king and the newly established Church of England. When a royal commissioner is brutally murdered in a monastery on the south coast of England, Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIIIs feared vicar general, summons fellow reformer Matthew Shardlake to lead the inquiry. Shardlake and his young protégé uncover evidence of sexual misconduct, embezzlement, and treason, and when two other murders are revealed, they must move quickly to prevent the killer from striking again.