Terrific Story, Writing, and Narration ...

... and I am using the word "terrific" in all of its meanings: "big," "excellent," and "terror-inducing." I would not recommend this book to everybody. However, if you have an intellectual bent, an interest in history, and a fondness for the mystery genre, then you will love "Dissolution." I noticed that some earlier reviewers did not like this audiobook, because it moved too slowly for them. "Dissolution" does, indeed, unfold slowly; so if you are looking for a thriller, you can bypass this one. However, if you have the patience to appreciate a beautifully-crafted, intricate, intriguing mystery, then get ready to clean house, do all your ironing, mending, and laundry, and wash the car -- just so you can keep listening to "Dissolution." In fact, some aspects of this novel -- the history part, the dirt part, the cruelty part, and the dark part -- run completely contrary to my own normal tastes in audiobooks. I generally like thrillers packed with action and humor. Yet still, I could not stop listening to "Dissolution": That shows you how well it is written (all the subsequent novels in the Matthew Shardlake series, as well, by the way). Listening to C. J. Sansom's novels feels like watching a gripping movie that engages all the senses -- including smell, touch, and taste. You will learn more about Tudor England than you probably ever wanted to know, and not regret having done so. The title, "Dissolution," has a dual meaning here, referring both to King Henry VIII's dissolution of the Catholic church in England, and the protagonist's gradual disillusionment with his formerly enthusiastic reformist convictions.

I respond emotionally to all of the Matthew Shardlake novels: I keep wondering, "How could people have behaved so cruelly? How could people have borne all that filth? Are humans today still that awful? Am I a totally innocent naïf? Why do we keep getting ourselves into these terrible situations?" Yes, C. J. Sansom's novels make you think. I don't know if he meant to conjure this parallel, but throughout my listening to the Matthew Shardlake series, the similarity between Henry VIII's reign over England and Joseph Stalin's rule over Soviet Russia keeps occurring to me, particularly in the careless destruction of art. In "Dissolution," Henry VIII has commanded destruction all religious artifacts, regardless of their artistic merit. All religious gold was melted down for Henry's coffers, and all religious architecture was destroyed. We are given the picture of a totally, spoiled, self-absorbed, self-indulgent monarch imposing his will on his helpless subjects.

Steven Crossley, the narrator of "Dissolution" and all the subsequent Matthew Shardlake series, does an excellent job. He has a beautiful voice, very good command of accents, and he usually clearly distinguishes the characters from each other. "Dissolution" marks the beginning of the Matthew Shardlake series, so start here. You will want to listen to the subsequent entries in this series.

76 people found this helpful

Wonderful

I don't generally read murder mysteries but bought this book because it centered on a time period I find to be interesting - Tudor England during the reign of King Henry VIII. I thought I might learn something new about the time period and the dissolution of the monasteries while, at the same time, have an interesting murder mystery to solve. The decision was a really good idea.

The murder mystery left me guessing as to who might have committed the grisly crime and the scene of the murder, a Roman Catholic monastery, made the mystery even more interesting. The cast of possible murderers is large enough to make guessing the culprit something of a challenge and I found myself caught up in the lives of the people involved and caring about who committed the crimes and why. That alone would have made this purchase worth while.

But the book also provided enough background information about Tudor England to prove educational without seeming to do so and I learned quite a bit I did not know about the effort to close the church monasteries. All in all this book was good enough for me to recommend it to a friend who does not listen to Audible but does a good deal of reading and to convince me to buy the next book in the sequence.

While the book alone is quite good Steven Crossley's narration only serves to add to the enjoyment I got from listening. The recording is flawless without those sometimes annoying repetitions I find in other audible offerings when the recording was originally done on CDs and transferred to digital.

Highly recommended if someone has any interest in this time period and in murder mysteries in general.

30 people found this helpful

Playing Outside the Box. Surprisingly Good!

I bought this on a whim because it just sounded like it could be interesting. In fact is was utterly fascinating. The idea of a murder mystery at a monastery 500 years ago in the midst of the English Reformation was something just too far out of the box to grasp. But I'm glad I did.

Sansom takes you on a tour of 16th Century Britain and weaves a masterful tale of murder and intrigue in the backdrop of the religious conflicts between the Roman Church and the emerging Church of England. Politics, Religion, Lust, Greed, Murder and Mystery. A great mix.

Crossley does a magnificent job of narrating the work. 5 stars all around!

19 people found this helpful

So much pain....

I bought this book a long time ago but it never seemed to be the right time to listen to it. I'm quite familiar with the time period and the dissolution of the monasteries, so I knew it was going to be a challenging read, so I delayed. Finally, it clicked on by itself when another book concluded, and I didn't move away. That said, this may not have been the best time to listen to it either.

It's a good book, maybe a great book, but the tale of so much pain and anguish -- mental, physical, spiritual, political -- is just an awful lot to take on with today's world in the shape its in. Today's personal and public pain is different, of course - not many of us will be beheaded or thrown into Newgate for our religious beliefs -- but the spectre of people falling into poverty through no fault of their own, of having their lands taken away, of losing their livelihood and their loved ones echoes across every newspaper. Not much has changed, in that regard. If you're looking for 'uplifting', this isn't the book.

It is a darn good mystery, however. Lots of twists and turns, and a nice long epilogue at the end to tell you what happened to everyone. I like that. It's also historically accurate -- so far as I know, at least. I kept waiting for some literary license, some reconfiguration of the main events, but there wasn't any. The author gets another big plus for that.

That said, I was surprised -- and then distressed -- throughout the first half of the book by Shardlake's apparent unquestioning support for Cromwell, whom we now know to have been seriously evil. Not that the forces on the other side were much better, of course, they might have been worse. But such unflagging support based on nothing but personal acquaintance and loyalty seemed naive at best. Interesting how Sansom cleverly turned Brother Guy, the Moorish convert, into the kind of sympathetic character that the hunchback Shardlake never came to be.

This is another of the times when I wished I belonged to a good book club. I'd love to discuss this book and compare it with Ken Follet's two masterful books, "Pillars of the Earth" and "World without End" -- slightly different time period, of course, but still involved with the monastic life and the villages and people involved with the monasteries. In a nutshell, I'd say that Follet's books were less painful, easier to listen to, but Sansom's book is a far better mystery, with more suspense and tension.

All that said, I did buy two of Sansom's subsequent novels, "Sovereign" and "Dark Fire". Painful or not, these books are worthy reads, a significant step above just plain thrillers.

34 people found this helpful

Give it some time!

At first I wasn't sure about this book, but I liked the narrator so I kept listening. I wasn't disappointed. This mystery kept me guessing till the end. It was full of twists and turns and interesting characters. I also enjoied Steven Crossley's narriation which kept me listening.

12 people found this helpful

Will definitely listen to more of Shardlake

I enjoyed this book much more than I expected to. The author is very skilled at weaving the history and culture of the period into the story without inserting long lectures that stop the movement of the story. I liked the main character, Matthew Shardlake, even with his flaws and religious zeal. I hope Brother Guy turns up in a later book, though I agree he sounded Russian rather than Moorish. (I have found the same thing with other narrators trying to do a Middle Eastern accent.)

I considered giving the book a 5 but it could have done with one less murder. And Shardlake did seem to flounder, accusing almost everyone of murder at some point in the story. There weren't many options left by the end.

15 people found this helpful

Wicked monks and kings

English history has taken a back seat to World War II in my recent historical interests, but I still tend to like any historical novel set in English. Dissolution is a book to bring back memories of Renaissance Faires, where actors prance around pretending to be King Henry or various other Tudor bigwigs. Of course Renaissance Faires have actual toilets and food that has to pass county safety inspections, and nobody can actually be beheaded for blaspheming or insulting the King. Not so in 1534, when Matthew Shardlake, a clever and and principled lawyer, is dispatched by the king's minister, Thomas Cromwell, to investigate the murder of one of his men at a monastery.

After Henry VIII broke away from the Roman Catholic Church and formed the Church of England, he began the process of confiscating Church property. Monasteries were dissolved, the monks forced into retirement, and all their lands and treasure flowed into the king's coffers. Initially he did this selectively - monasteries that swore to follow the new "reformist" rules, including teaching in English instead of Latin, and forswearing their loyalty to Rome, were allowed to continue on, more or less. Those that resisted got dissolved and torn down. In practice the King's men went looking for excuses to disband the monasteries, because the king wanted that land.

So when one of the king's men turns up dead, it seems like a perfect opportunity to close the monastery where he was murdered. The problem is that there was a nasty rebellion a few months ago and the king can't afford a repeat, so everything has to be done "properly." Hence Matthew Shardlake, a London lawyer, is sent with a naive young assistant to "investigate." What Cromwell really wants is for Matthew to do a quick open-and-shut investigation and declare someone guilty, so Cromwell can begin the process of dissolving the monastery. But Matthew Shardlake, a genuine believer in the Reformation, is also a genuine believer in truth and justice. The sort of person who always finds himself in trouble in a dirty world. So when things don't add up as neatly as he'd like, and then there are more murders, he has to stay at the monastery and continue his investigation while Cromwell is impatiently stamping his feet and muttering dire warnings from London.

I am not an English historian - Sansom gives every indication of having done his research, but a subject like the English Reformation generates debate to this day. Was Henry VIII really the big, fat ratfink he is usually depicted as? Was Anne Boleyn framed? Was the Church a corrupt institution that needed reform? Sansom's fictional treatment of events inevitably takes a point of view that seems generally grounded in fact, but a lot has to be speculation. Certainly he depicts Thomas Cromwell as quite a villainous figure.

Matthew Shardlake is the proverbial honest man who finds himself faced with uncomfortable truths when his ideals run aground against political reality. He's an interesting character who no doubt has additional trials ahead of him. The monks, sheriffs, peasants, and lords who populate the book are likewise an interesting assortment of innocent and wicked, each acting out of complex motives.

I figured out who the murderer was as soon as the character was introduced, and even made a good guess as to the murderer's motives. Of course the plot introduced a few twists which I could not have predicted, but it generally followed the course I expected. So it's not a story that will drop any huge surprises on you, but if you like Tudor intrigue and English history, this was a satisfying, well written mystery that will have me returning to the series.

5 people found this helpful

Not his best, but good.

Any additional comments?

Truth be told, I wasn't thrilled with this book. Like other reviewers I found myself not so much interested in Shardlake but drawn to Brother Guy instead. But... here's the deal, listen to this book to get a feel for Shardlake, where he's coming from and the time period and then listen to the rest of the series. It gets really good. I found I had to time myself listening to the rest of the series to make sure I always had a credit available when I finished one so I could start the next right away. This book is pretty simplistic, but the others bring out Shardlake in a more interesting way and we get intoduced to a great "side kick" and for those of us that like Brother Guy, he stays with us along the ride. So although this book is by far the least interesting in the series, I wouldn't suggest skipping it. And for those of you that didn't like this book, Really, give the next book a try, it's 100% better.

11 people found this helpful

Gripping!

This is the first book set in this era that I have read and I was doubtful about whether I would enjoy the setting. All that changed after about five seconds. Brilliant story and a perfect narrator. Truly wonderful experience. Although the story is complex, I didn't get lost in it. This author really keeps the story moving. Literally, there is not one boring bit. Always something new and thrilling. I had to take this into the supermarket to finish it as I couldn't wait until after the shopping was done to find out what happened. Loved it to bits much to my surprise. And how great that it is a series. Hooray.

3 people found this helpful

Not a pleasant place and time to live

I was a history major in college, with an emphasis on other than US history. I spent serious time studying medieval and post-medieval history, did major papers on the development of the British navy. Of course, most of what I studied was the actions and lives of "those who mattered". Remembering that this is not a nonfiction book, it is a good window into that time and place.

What it does is provide a fun read, with a number of not too predictable twists and even better, a picture of part of what life was like in an area away from the action, at a time when the world was in more turmoil than even today.

This is certainly worth a listen, on a number of levels.

3 people found this helpful