Dissolution is the first of the Shardlake novels by C. J. Sansom. Matthew Shardlake is a lawyer working for Thomas Cromwell during the reign of King Henry VIII. In this story Cromwell appoints him as a commissioner and sends him to investigate the death of another commissioner in suspicious circumstances.
On arrival at the monastery Shardlake learns that the dead man was beheaded in a locked room. Later a novice is poisoned to prevent him revealing something about one of the monks. While searching a pond for the murder weapon Shardlake finds the body of a young woman who had gone missing two years ago. A final death occurs when a monk pushes Shardlake out of the way as a statue falls on him.
Shardlake is a hunchback, but he tries not to let it stop him doing his job. He refers to the pain brought on by riding, and he needs to use a staff to get around. But his disability doesn’t interfere with his brain, so he’s still able to solve the mystery. It’s good to see a popular novel with a disabled hero.
When I started to read Dissolution I was afraid it was going to be a variation of The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. However, there are no real similarities. For one thing, Dissolution lacks the pointless digressions into debates on heresy. For another, the murders have down-to-earth motives like revenge, lust and self-preservation. The story is well grounded in the history of the time and the title is well chosen. As well as the dissolution of the monasteries we see the dissolution of Shardlake’s moral certainties and his trust in Cromwell. The ending was not what I expected. I’m looking forward to reading more Shardlake stories.
