Book Summary and Reviews of Dark Fire by C. J. Sansom

Dark Fire by C. J. Sansom

Dark Fire

A Matthew Shardlake Tudor Mystery

by C. J. Sansom

  • Readers' Rating (2):
  • Published:
  • Jan 2005, 525 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

The second novel in the Matthew Shardlake Tudor Mystery series—the inspiration for the Hulu original series Shardlake!

In 1540, during the reign of Henry VIII, Shardlake is asked to help a young girl accused of murder. She refuses to speak in her defense even when threatened with torture. But just when the case seems lost, Thomas Cromwell, the king's feared vicar general, offers Shardlake two more weeks to prove his client's innocence. In exchange, Shardlake must find a lost cache of "Dark Fire," a legendary weapon of mass destruction. What ensues is a page-turning adventure, filled with period detail and history.

"Atmospheric and engaging" (Margaret George), this second book in Matthew Shardlake Tudor Mystery series delves again into the dark and superstitious world of Cromwell's England introduced in Dissolution.

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This information about Dark Fire was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

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Author Information

C. J. Sansom

C. J. Sansom, the internationally bestselling author of the Matthew Shardlake series and the novels Winter in Madrid and Dominion, earned a Ph.D. in history and was a lawyer before becoming a full-time writer.

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Read-Alikes

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If you liked Dark Fire, try these:

  • The Invention of Fire jacket

    The Invention of Fire

    by Bruce Holsinger

    Published 2016

    About this book

    Fourteenth-century London comes alive in all its color and detail in this riveting thriller featuring medieval poet and fixer John Gower—a twisty tale rife with intrigue, danger mystery, and murder.

  • Revelation jacket

    Revelation

    by C.J. Sansom

    Published 2010

    About this book

    Spring, 1543. When an old friend is horrifically murdered, Shardlake promises his widow to bring the killer to justice. His search leads him to both Archbishop Cranmer and Catherine Parr – whom King Henry VIII is wooing to become his sixth wife - and the dark prophecies of the Book of Revelation.

  • The Lost City jacket

    The Lost City

    by Henry Shukman

    Published 2009

    About this book

    The story of a British expat searching for treasure and, more important, for connection, amid the seductions and dangers of a rootless life.

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