Rating: 
Summary: "Dissolution" Transports Reader to Harsh, Vibrant World
Review: Many novels set in older times suffer from two flaws -- regardless of the ostensible setting of the novel, it comes across as shockingly modern, and the hero/heroine is invariably a modern spirit who could easily be portrayed by an uber-attractive movie star like Brad Pitt or Gwyneth Paltrow. These novels may be entertaining, but they often come across as less than authentic.
C.J. Sansom's "Dissolution" avoids both of these pitfalls. For one, Sansom's protagonist is a true character of his times. Matthew Shardlake is a hunchbacked (!) lawyer in the service of Thomas Cromwell, the right hand man of England's King Henry VIII. The novel is set in 1537, during the height of the English Reformation, and Shardlake is a man clearly caught up in the spiritual tumult of his times. Convinced he is serving both a man of honor and a cause that is just, Shardlake is also haunted by his memory of the execution of Anne Boleyn. But whatever sympathies Shardlake may have for those less fortunate than he, he is also a man who is proud of his Reformist beliefs, his loyalty to his king, and his own accomplishments. Rather than an unbelievable 21st century man living in 16th century England, Shardlake is a convincing and compelling man of his times.
Sansom also conveys a masterful grasp of England in 1537. Religious strife tears apart the fabric of the country as the Reformist King Henry seeks to topple the Papist monastaries. King's Commissioners, such as Shardlake, are feared for their absolute power. From his vivid descriptions of the snowbound countryside to his easy command of life in an English monastary to his characters' antiquated-yet-understandable jargon, "Dissolution" is a compelling read.
Sansom has also given us an intriguing mystery. One of the King's Commissioners has been foully murdered at a seaside monastary, beheaded in the Church with satanic imagery. Shardlake is sent to investigate by Cromwell. Wheels turn within wheels as Shardlake sets out to solve the murder as well as advance the King's political agenda vis-a-vis the monastaries, and Shardlake also uncovers other evidence that all is not well at the monastary, even if one discounts the murdered Commissioner.
An excellent who-dunnit, "Dissolution" contains sufficient red herrings and false leads, not to mention a few action scenes, to keep you turning pages long after you intended to set it down. A tremendous first novel -- dive in and enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: very good debut book
Review: Since Ellis Peters' passing, I didn't expect to read any new good murder mysteries set in English monasteries. Thankfully, I was wrong, as I thoroughly enjoyed this work by a new author. This book takes place centuries after Brother Cadfael's time, when the British monasteries were falling into the corrupt lifestyle of the pre-Reformation Catholic Church. Of course, Henry VIII's dispute over his wished for divorce sped things along, and the new officials who arose in their master's wake were for Reform, and wished to close the monasteries, as symbols of the "papist" devils. Our intrepid hero goes to a large monastery on the coast to strong arm the abbott into surrendering his monastery to the crown, after his predecessor was murdered there. The plot deepens when two other murders occur, and our hero and his assistant must work diligently to discover "whodunnit", from a list of several likely suspects. There are religious discussions, traces of disillusionment in some of the characters, and all in all quite an exciting tale from beginning to end. I look forward quite eagerly to further books from this author.
Rating:
Summary: Addictive read-- well-researched and well-written
Review: The cover of Dissolution is festooned with glowing praise from writers such as P.D. James and Colin Dexter. This praise overcame my natural allergy to historical mysteries and led me to buy the book. I was not disappointed.
Dissolution is a surprisingly quick read for such a long book. It flows smoothly. The combination of skilled plotting and historical detail is a winning one. The length of the book is tricky to pull off. However, I believe that the complex nature of the subject would have been difficult to tackle in less time.
Dissolution is as much an investigation of personal faith as it is an investigation of a murder. Matthew Shardlake is not only uncovering who killed Robin Singleton, he is also finding some deep pools of unease within himself at the methods and motivations of his beloved Reformation. While a whodunnit could have been covered in half the time, the themes of history and faith would have been short-changed had Sansom skimped on the background.
Mystery writing at its best is often an exploration of cynicism and loss of innocence. Like any good Noir detectives, Shardlake begins his career as an idealist. This book is his fall from belief into a bitter awareness of corruption. If Sansom picks up this thread and continues with it, then the readers should benefit from a very interesting series indeed.
Dissolution suffers from a few first novel flaws. For instance, Cromwell is awfully forthcoming about his scheming. It was not necessary for Shardlake to get a confession from him to believe that Shardlake could have his faith badly shaken. This and a few other minor missteps seem like artifacts of a writer who does not yet trust his own material. None of these things are flaws that should dissuade you from reading the book.
This book should appeal to fans of more literary mystery writers such as James, historical fiction fans, and armchair historians. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: interesting historical novel
Review: The novel centers on murders at a monastery of the south coast
of England in 1537. Henry VIII is head of the Church in England,
and is taking over ("dissolving") much of the property and wealth
of the Catholic Church. Thomas Cromwell (the Vicar General of
England) sends Matthew Shardlake to Scarnsea to investigate the
murder of Cromwell's previous emissary Shardlake, who is a
hunchback, also must look into other murders as well at the
monastery.The primary interest here is in the historical period, and the
view of political and religious matters. Anne Boleyn's beheading
occurred in 1536 on trumped-up charges of adultery, and Thomas
More was beheaded in 1535 for refusing to acknowledge the
religious primacy of Henry. Many Catholic clergy went to the
scaffold; others were racked until they renounced their faith in
favor of Henry. The novel presents a good glimpse of life in
this time of transition. As a mystery, this is not Agatha Christie; as a look at religious
matters, this is not The Name of the Rose. The characters do not
have a richness of depth, and the overall writing is good, but
not lyrical. Read it as a good historical novel, not as a great
novel.
Rating:
Summary: 3 and one half stars -- see below
Review: The story and plot has been well summarized elsewhere on this page, so I will undertake my evaluation directly.
The strongest parts of this first mystery novel are the sense of place and atmosphere. At the beginning of the tale,
Cromwell's office and the vicar general himself are very well drawn, setting the ominous tone for the "dissolution" of monastic holdings throughout England.
Also well limned are the vermin-infested rural inn that Shardlake and his assistant Mark stay in while journeying to St. Donatus, and the coastal environs of Scarnsea. The "star" of DISSOLUTION is the the brooding St Donatus monastery as the English winter sets in (obviously, a metaphor). The reader will enjoy the vivid descriptions of the church, the refectory, the infirmary and the secret passageways that are uncovered in the last third of the book.
Sansom largely succeeds in creating a sympathetic and believable protagonist, an individual with attractive and unattractive traits. Making his "detective" a hunchback, we vicariously experience the superstitious dread and cruelties that were visited upon the deformed in the 16th century.
Shardlake begins the tale as an idealistic reformer under the sway of Erasmus and we experience his disillusionment that seeps into his hope. Sansom has also given a decent, sympathetic account of his lead character's spiritual life, no small achievement in contemporary fiction about the Middle Ages and Renaissance where most writers - try as they may - end up concocting characters that embody the religious skepticism of our times. In addition, we empathize with Shardlake as we anticipate that his romantic interests will be rebuffed, so we cut him slack for his occasional bouts of self-pity.
The principal flaw of DISSOLUTION is that it unspools at too great a length before resolving. What took Sansom over 380 pages should have been accomplished in 100 fewer. Like the treacherous marshes abutting the monastery, the reader gets bogged down at too many junctures where the plot becomes too complex for its own good. This is not uncommon for historical novels where the lure of adding more local color and yet another vivid description proves too attractive for an otherwise expeditious writer to exclude.
If, on the other hand, you are the sort of reader whom enjoys writers who love to generously display they past they have researched and created, the book's length may be its asset.
As I write this, C. J. Sansom's second book of Shardlake's advenutures is about to be published. I'm keen to see how he develops Matthew Shardlake and finds other problems for him to solve.
Rating:
Summary: Dissolution, The Story of a Medieval Tragedy
Review: There is a ghastly murder in a place of religion and a young lawyer is sent down to find the murderer and set things right. Sound familiar? But it's not in the now, not in the present. It's in sixteenth Century England (1537 to be exact) and the larger than life figures of that era live in the pages - Henry VIII, having conspired by false witness to have his second wife Anne Bolyn convicted of treason and beheaded, is mourning the death of his third wife Jane Seymour. Thomas Cromwell, Vice Regent and Vicar general of all England, who has been deputized by the King to seize all Catholic monasteries by means fair or foul is seeking to transfer their assets to the Crown through the Court of Augmenations which he has conceived and which is the sixteenth century progenitor of a bankruptcy court - except that the Crown is the only creditor. And Matthew Shardlake, member of the Bar of the Court of Augmentations, has been commissioned by Cromwell to investigate the murder of a Kings Commissioner sent to oversee the status of the Monastery of St Donatus at Scarnsea. From the time Matthew starts for the monastery from London on his horse Chancery on a bitterly cold November day until two weeks and three deaths later when the reader can finally put the book down we are treated with a knowleadgeable,historically accurate tale of monastic and social life in the third decade of the sixteenth century p;us the usual suspense, suprise and blood of a good crime story. But much beter the description of life than the story, although that is good goo. I've never read a better "up close" look at medieval life brought living to the page. I recommend it highly.
Rating:
Summary: Nice backjumping in Middle Age
Review: This book accomplishes a very hard task in the easy way. Historical novels, in my opinion, have to unveil history by means of a plot with a clear historical setting. So the plot itself is secondary and the historical description catches readers' attention. After Eco's and Follet's this is another piece of history that we can learn about in the comfort of our armchair
Rating:
Summary: a treat for British history buffs
Review: This is a great read, especially for knowledgeable fans of Tudor history. I found the characters convincing and well drawn, the mystery well plotted and the writing well paced. I didn't know much about monasteries before reading this, other than that they were dissolved by Henry VIII in one of the great land grabs of English history; the author has brought these events and the time period alive for the modern reader. I esp. liked the description of the privy! Wow, that's historical detail. While this is a highly readable novel,it also touches on deep and enduring themes such as disillusionment with political and religious idols. Very highly recommended. C.J. Sansom, write another one please!
Rating:
Summary: very good debut book
Review: this is the debut book by c.j. sansom, which already places him in the elite level of contemporary authors (perez-reverte, eco, et al). his writing style is exquisite. just as good as, but totally different from, another monastery/abbey murder mystery: the name of the rose by eco.
5 stars *****
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