‘Tombland’ by C.J. Sansom
‘Tombland’ by C.J. Sansom
This month, our book was ‘Tombland’ by C.J. Sansom. This was the seventh in the series of Matthew Shardlake, the hunchbacked lawyer detective.
In this case Shardlake is directed by Lady Elizabeth (the future queen) to investigate the murder involving a distant relative. In so doing, Shardlake, aided by his assistant Nicholas Overton, finds himself embroiled in the peasant rebellions of 1549 and in particular Kett’s Rebellion in Norfolk. Sansom crammed a huge amount of historical information in the book’s 800 pages but contrary to it being a tedious read, it transported us into the 16th century and we all felt that we were alongside Shardlake in his quest.
Sansom’s books were new to most of us and as we enjoyed the book so much, we felt that we would have liked to start with the first book of the series. We gave ‘Tombland’ an overall score of 8/10.