Tombland

Starred review from February 18, 2019
Set in 1549 England, Sansom’s outstanding seventh novel featuring lawyer Matthew Shardlake (after 2015’s Lamentation) finds Shardlake working for Thomas Parry, the comptroller in charge of the household finances for the future Elizabeth I. Parry summons Shardlake to undertake a highly sensitive investigation. A woman has shown up at Lady Elizabeth’s Norfolk residence, claiming to be Edith Boleyn, the widow of John, a distant relative of Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth’s mother. Edith said she had just been dispossessed of her property, but Parry, who grew increasingly suspicious of her bona fides, turned her away. Eleven days later, a shepherd found the woman’s naked corpse in a stream, her head bashed in. The shepherd was employed by a landowner engaged in a bitter territory dispute with the very much alive John Boleyn. John’s muddy shoes matched footprints near the grim discovery, and a hammer with traces of blood and hair was found in his stables. Elizabeth herself requests that Shardlake look into the crime. Shardlake’s search for the truth behind the murder coincides with the massive peasant uprising known as Kett’s Rebellion. Non-mystery readers interested in Tudor England will be equally enthralled. Agent: Jennifer Weltz, Jean V. Naggar Literary.