You may recall my mentioning that I have a strange inclination to read books in a series out of order, which is always accidental. Well, here is the one that I happened upon book #6, which is likely also the end of this series, although I'm not positive. Lamentation is a sort of historical detective series set in England during the time of King Henry VIII. The PI in the story is Matthew Shardlake, who happens to be friends with the new queen, Catherine Parr. And Catherine has gotten herself into a bit of a pickle when she writes her personal religious confessional diary (a lamentation) and it gets stolen. Henry, being adamant in his faith view, and an ardent member of the disposable wife club, may have a problem with her opinions and she is afraid of losing her head. In swoops Shardlake to the rescue. I think you get it....
The book is pretty long, and it reads that way. I suspect previous books in this series may have been better because Sansom is a decent writer, but this entire concept was a stretch in believability. The whole idea of the missing lamentation being such a threat and the various characters and encounters in this novel were just too far-fetched. Particularly if you are at all familiar with Henry and his wives, you know that when Catherine Parr is his wife he is on his deathbed, just seems his mind may have been elsewhere.
My suggestion to you dear reader, is to pick up Dissolution and start at the beginning.
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