or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
More Buying Choices
14 used & new from £4.44
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Dissolution (Shardlake)
 
See larger image 
Share your own customer images
Publisher: learn how customers can search inside this book.

Dissolution (Shardlake) [Audiobook] (Audio CD)

by C. J. Sansom (Author), Anton Lesser (Reader)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (132 customer reviews)
RRP: £16.99
Price: £10.99 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save: £6.00 (35%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.

Want guaranteed delivery by Thursday, February 11? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details
12 new from £4.44 2 used from £4.80
Other Editions: RRP: Our Price: Other Offers:
Hardcover 12 used & new from £79.99
Paperback £7.99 £3.99 76 used & new from £0.40
Audio Download (Abridged) £16.99 £8.92
or £3.99 with new Audible.co.uk membership.
Library Binding (Reprint) Order it used
Audio CD (Abridged,Audiobook) £25.64 £25.42 8 used & new from £21.17
Audio Cassette Order it used

Special Offers and Product Promotions

  • Save up to 80% on more than 40,000 downloadable audiobooks at Audible.co.uk. Listen on your ipod or MP3 player for £3.99.


Frequently Bought Together

Dissolution (Shardlake) + Dark Fire (Shardlake) + Sovereign (Shardlake)
Total RRP: £32.97
Price For All Three: £18.97

Show availability and delivery details

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Dark Fire (Shardlake)

Dark Fire (Shardlake)

by C. J. Sansom
4.6 out of 5 stars (86)  £3.99
Sovereign (Shardlake)

Sovereign (Shardlake)

by C. J. Sansom
4.4 out of 5 stars (111)  £3.99
Revelation (Shardlake)

Revelation (Shardlake)

by C. J. Sansom
4.5 out of 5 stars (108)  £3.99
Winter in Madrid

Winter in Madrid

by C. J. Sansom
3.3 out of 5 stars (110)  £11.37
Wolf Hall

Wolf Hall

by Hilary Mantel
3.9 out of 5 stars (207)  £9.49
› Explore similar items

Product details

  • Audio CD
  • Publisher: Macmillan Digital Audio (3 Aug 2007)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0230529119
  • ISBN-13: 978-0230529113
  • Product Dimensions: 14.4 x 12.6 x 2.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (132 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 220,753 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #17 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > S > Sansom, C.J.

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Product Description

The Guardian

'A mix of serious history and its political contect, together with first-rate murder mystery.'

Product Description

Henry VIII has proclaimed himself Supreme Head of the Church and the country is waking up to savage new laws, rigged trials and the greatest network of informers ever seen. Under the order of Thomas Cromwell, a team of commissioners is sent through the country to investigate the monasteries. There can only be one outcome: the monasteries are to be dissolved.

But on the Sussex coast, at the monastery of Scarnsea, events have spiralled out of control. Cromwell's Commissioner Robin Singleton, has been found dead, his head severed from his body. His horrific murder is accompanied by equally sinister acts of sacrilege - a black cockerel sacrificed on the alter, and the disappearance of Scarnsea's Great Relic.

Matthew Shardlake, lawyer and long-time supporter of Reform, has been sent by Cromwell into this atmosphere of treachery and death. But Shardlake's investigation soon forces him to question everything he hears, and everything that he intrinsically believes . . .

'Remarkable' P. D. James

'Extraordinarily impressive. The best crime novel I have read this year' Colin Dexter

See all Product Description

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 
(2)
(1)
Agree with these tags?

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Dissolution (Shardlake)
84% buy the item featured on this page:
Dissolution (Shardlake) 4.3 out of 5 stars (132)
£10.99
Revelation (Shardlake)
5% buy
Revelation (Shardlake) 4.5 out of 5 stars (108)
£3.99
Dark Fire (Shardlake)
5% buy
Dark Fire (Shardlake) 4.6 out of 5 stars (86)
£3.99
Sovereign (Shardlake)
4% buy
Sovereign (Shardlake) 4.4 out of 5 stars (111)
£3.99
Explore similar items
 

Customer Reviews

132 Reviews
5 star:
 (81)
4 star:
 (29)
3 star:
 (12)
2 star:
 (7)
1 star:
 (3)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (132 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
121 of 124 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Historically rooted, gripping story, a whodunnit with real verve, 12 April 2007
By Mark Meynell "quaesitor" (London, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)      
This review is from: Dissolution (Shardlake) (Paperback)
To begin with i thought this was just a pastiche of Eco's Name of the Rose: Monastery in winter, dodgy monks, murders and a beautiful young girl with an unusual detective plus honourable apprentice (even Aristotle's lost work On Comedy makes an appearance). But this is set a few centuries later and is firmly rooted in the Tudor terrors at the time of Dissolution of the Monasteries. National politics and the reformation are the sword of Damocles that hang over the monastery throughout. What is so exciting and satisfying is the way (rather like Eco did) that national politics and scandals are interwoven naturally into the goings on in this remote monastery on the South Coast. Henry VIII exists as an invisible presence throughout; the nearest we get to him is his ruthless and foul henchman, Thomas Cromwell. But his lethal authority and whims are stamped on every page.

The hero of the piece is Matthew Shardlake who finds himself having to do Cromwell's bidding. He is a believable character, idealistic but flawed, given to blindspots and jealousies - but he acknowledges all these, especially as he recognises that to have remained neutral could have helped find the culprits sooner and thus prevented more deaths.

This is a great read - and brings a dark chapter of England's history to life. There are no easy answers - and the rights and wrongs of the period are not so categorically stated that the reader is drawn inevitably to either 'papists' or 'reformers'. A tour de force.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


 
25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Absorbing, exciting - a great book, 5 Oct 2004
By C. Winston (London) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Dissolution (Shardlake) (Paperback)
I also bought this book on a whim in an airport - and was delighted to find a new author I hope to read much more of. The book itself is a great murder mystery - plenty of twists, without losing its credibility, and simply a superb story.

On top of this though, it's a great picture of a time of enormous change in England - although I knew the basics of the dissolution of the monasteries, this really brings everything to life, and although there is plenty of detail for those who like their history, it never becomes dry or boring.

Quite simply, this is one of the most gripping and readable books I've picked up for quite a while, and I'll be recommending it far and wide.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


 
52 of 56 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Muder in the Monastary, 3 Mar 2005
By Mrs. D. J. Smith "eowyngreenleaf" (Luton, England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)      
This review is from: Dissolution (Shardlake) (Paperback)
I'd had this book for a while, it was one I'd picked up in a publishers clearance shop. I thought it looked as if it might be OK to amuse myself for a few hours at some point. Now I have finally got around to reading it, I'm sorry I didn't read it before! It's well written, feels historically authentic and there are excellent characters and a really gripping mystery to boot! It's interesting that the 'hero', Commissioner Matthew Shardlake, is a hunchback and is sent to investigate the brutal murder of an official in a monastery, around about the time Henry VIII and Cromwell are starting to dissolve the monasteries, with the lesser ones already having gone. At this period, any physical impairment was seen as a judgement from God on that individual, so our hero has prejudice to struggle against on top of everything else! A really good read it put me a little in mind of Sharon Penman's Justin de Quincy books - highly recommended! Probably not for the squeamish though - it's a bit graphic in places.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Really enjoyed it from the mystery novel standpoint.
From reading some of the other reviews of this novel I'm thinking this is one of those times I should celebrate the fact that I'm not driven to read historical mysteries by my... Read more
Published 8 days ago by J. Lesley

4.0 out of 5 stars oops!
Part way through and loving the story as long as I force myself to avoid the errors. As another reviewer has said a better proof reader was needed. Read more
Published 9 days ago by nellie

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, gripping read
As always with the doings of Shardlake I was gripperd from the start. The combination of fascinating history and gripping 'who-done-it' makes for a hugeley entertaining read.
Published 28 days ago by Christine Pickard

5.0 out of 5 stars Top book
I've now read all the books in this series and there all excellent. The only down side is they're so good I finished them in no time at all. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mr. W. A. Horsfall

5.0 out of 5 stars An exciting, absorbing novel
As the first of the Shardlake novels I found this book well written with the characters acutely drawn. Read more
Published 1 month ago by C. M. Cowell

5.0 out of 5 stars HISTORICAL, GRIPPING WHODUNNIT
THIS NOVEL IS SET DURING HENRY VIII'S REIGN WHEN HE DECREED TO DISSOLVE THE MONASTARIES. MATTHEW SHARDLAKE A HUNCHBACK INVESTIGATOR/LAWYER PLAYS THE UNLIKELY PROTAGONIST, APART... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Anne - History Junkie

4.0 out of 5 stars Can't really say
Sorry cannot review as this was bought for someone else who hasn't had the courtesy to tell me if or when it arrived or in what condition - my contact with the company which sold... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Elorac

5.0 out of 5 stars a real page turner.
Having never read such a epic historic novel before, I would recommed this book to everyone who fancies a change from the safe light hearted witty girly fiction. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Soothing Sole

5.0 out of 5 stars More, More, More
Someone please tell me that this charector has more in store for us all.

I cannot put the books down.
Published 3 months ago by John Jackson

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Read
I actually picked this book up as a sort of 'well it looks ok I might give it a go' type of novel. I love historical fiction and whodunnits so I thought this might be worth a... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Raegan E. Brady

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
any "fictional historical crime/thriller" recommendations?? 1 October 2009
› See all discussions...  
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject









i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback


Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.