num_pages: 443
description: 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. The country is waking up to savage new laws, rigged trials and the greatest network of informers it has ever seen. And 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: dissolution. 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.Matthew Shardlake, lawyer and long time supporter of Reform, has been sent by Cromwell to uncover the truth behind the dark happenings at Scarnsea. But investigation soon forces Shardlake to question everything that he hears, and everything that he intrinsically believes...
language: English
title: Dissolution
titlecomplete: Dissolution (Matthew Shardlake, #1)
characters: Brother Edwig, Brother Hugh, Thomas Oldknoll, Alice Fewterer, Thomas Cromwell, Abbot Fabian, Ralph Spenlay, Robin Singleton, Joan Woode, Brother Athelstan, Orphan Stonegarden, Master Hodges, Brother Mortimus of Kelso, Joan Stumpe, Brother Gabriel of Ashford, Brother Jude, Lawrence Goodhaps, Matthew Shardlake, Jerome Wentworth, Mark Poer, Master Bugge, Gilbert Copynger, Simon Whelplay, Brother Guy of Malton
genres: Mystery, Fiction, Tudor Period, Mystery Thriller, Thriller, Historical Fiction, Crime, Historical, Historical Mystery, British Literature
ratings_count: 52837
places: Scarnsea, Sussex,
series: Matthew Shardlake
awards: awardedAt: 1041408000000
name: CWA Ellis Peters Historical Award, awardedAt: 1041408000000
name: CWA New Blood Dagger, awardedAt: 1041408000000
name: Waverton Good Read Award
publisher: Pan Books