Dark Fire (Matthew Shardlake 2)

Dark Fire (Matthew Shardlake 2) by Sansom, C. J.. paperback edition. ISBN: 9780330450782.

It is 1540, and Matthew Shardlake, the lawyer renowned as "the sharpest hunchback in the courts of England," is pressed to help a friends young niece who is charged with murder. Despite threats of torture and death by the rack, the girl is inexplicably silent. Shardlake is about to lose her case when he is suddenly granted a reprieve one that will ensnare him in the dangerous schemes of Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIIIs feared vicar-general. In exchange for two more weeks to investigate the murder, Shardlake accepts Cromwells dangerous assignment to find a lost cache of "dark fire," a legendary weapon of mass destruction. Cromwell, out of favor since Henrys disastrous marriage to Anne of Cleves, is relying on Shardlake to save his position at court, which is rife with treasonous conspiracies. With its wonderful attention to period detail and its brilliant handling of suspense, Dark Fire is sure to win comparisons with Margaret Georges Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles and captivate readers of Philippa Gregory and David Liss.