Heartstone

In the summer of 1545, England is preparing to defend the homeland against an anticipated naval attack from the French. Narrator Steven Crossley draws listeners into these perilous times with vivid word pictures of everyday life--from the corrupt politics to the stench of the street and the horror of battle. HEARTSTONE blends this turbulent backdrop with a murder mystery and wartime intrigue. Queen Catherine Parr asks London attorney Matthew Shardlake to investigate claims of "monstrous wrongs" committed against a ward of the court. Shardlake's inquiries take him to Portsmouth, where the English fleet is gathering. Crossley's masterful ability to combine speech patterns and dialects with a striking range of emotion ignites the listening experience. T.J.M. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine

Starred review from November 1, 2010
Few contemporary authors are as adept as Sansom at blending a whodunit with a sweeping historical epic, as shown by his fifth mystery featuring English attorney Matthew Shardlake (after 2009's Revelation). In 1545, as a French fleet threatens invasion, the English queen, Catherine Parr, asks Shardlake to look into a matter for an old servant, whose son committed suicide shortly after filing a protest about the wardship of a boy the son had tutored. Soon after accepting this assignment, Shardlake is assaulted by a gang of thugs, who warn him to drop the matter. On his own, he also probes the past of a Bedlam inmate, Ellen Fettiplace, who was institutionalized 20 years earlier after being raped. Both cases turn out to be extremely complex, and Shardlake, who puts justice above his personal interests, ends up with several murders to solve as well. Strong prose makes Tudor England instantly accessible, and the clockwork plotting sustains deep interest throughout.