I enjoyed this story very much. It will certainly please the myriads of historical crime novel readers. Period crime novels are probably at their highest level for many years and this is certainly one of the better ones. Not a classic but certainly a very enjoyable and interesting read. 1537 and the English Reformation is in full swing. Lord Thomas Cromwell Vicar-General of his majesty King Henry VIII is ready and willing to shut down any papist institutions he can find. When one of his commissioners is found beheaded at a remote Benedictine monastery, Cromwell sends another, the lawyer, Matthew Shardlake to investigate the murder . . . The author gives an excellent portrayal of the corruption that abounded in England during the reign of Henry VIII. His plot is well structured and his characters charismatic and believable.