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Dark Fire
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Read Dark Fire
Matthew Shardlake Mysteries: Book 2

Dark Fire (2005) (edit title/settings)

by C. J. Sansom (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

From the acclaimed author of Dissolution comes a new sixteenth-century thriller featuring hunchback lawyer Matthew 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... read more

Summary edit see section history

From the acclaimed author of "Dissolution" comes a new sixteenth-century thriller featuring hunchback lawyer Matthew 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... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

From the acclaimed author of "Dissolution" comes a new sixteenth-century thriller featuring hunchback lawyer Matthew 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 kingas feared vicar general, offers Shardlake two more weeks to prove his clientas innocence. In exchange, Shardlake must find a lost cache of aDark Fire, a a legendary weapon of mass destruction. What ensues is a page-turning adventure, filled with period detail and history.

Characters edit see section history

  • Matthew Shardlake: Narrator of the story; lawyer of Lincoln's Inn; hunchback since the age of 5.
  • Joan Woode: Shardlake's Chancery Lane housekeeper.
  • Simon: Shardlake's stable boy.
  • Guy Malton: Former monk at Scarnsea, son of Moorish parents from Granada; trained as a physician; now an apothecary in London.
  • John Skelly: Shardlake's clerk; "not yet 20 but married with a child."
  • Godfrey Wheelwright: Shardlake's friend; a fellow lawyer who shares an office with Shardlake, at Lincoln's Inn.
  • Sir Richard Rich: Chancellor of the Court of Augmentations (responsible for the sale of hundreds of monastic buildings and for former monk's pensions).
  • Stephen Bealknap: An opposing lawyer of Shardlake.
  • Thomas Cromwell: 1st Earl of Essex, Henry VIII's chief minister from 1532 - 1540
  • Jack Barak: Cromwell's trusted servant; Cromwell assigns him as Shardlake's assistant for this case.
  • Edwin Grey: Lord Cromwell's clerk/secretary for the past 15 years.
  • Sir Edwin Wentworth: Ralph's father, Elizabeth's uncle, Joseph's brother. Prospered in the cloth trade.
  • David Needler: Sir Edwin Wentworth's steward.
  • Ralph Wentworth: Edwin's son, died from a fall into a well.
  • Elizabeth Wentworth: 18 years old, accused of killing her cousin Ralph.
  • Joseph Wentworth: Elizabeth's uncle; a farmer from Essex; he hires Shardlake to defend his niece.
  • Forbizer: Judge in the Elizabeth Wentworth trial.
  • Lady Honor Bryanston: Widow to Sir Harcourt Bryanston, "the biggest mercer in London, when he died three years ago."
  • Gabriel Marchamount: One of the Serjeants
  • Michael Gristwood: Attorney; used to work for Stephen Bealkamp.
  • Goodwife Gristwood: Wife of Michael Gristwood. Nee Jane Storey.
  • Susan: Goodwife Gristwood's servant girl.
  • Samuel Gristwood: Michael Gristwood's brother; "Sepultus the alchemist."
  • Alan St John: Soldier of the Byzantine Emporer Constantine Palaiologos.
  • Bernard Kytchyn: Former monk and librarian at St. Bartholomew's Priory; now listed as chantry priest at St. Andrew's Church, Moorgate.
  • Bathsheba Green: Whore at Bishop's Hat brothel at Bank End, Southwark.
  • Peter Leighton: A founder from Lothbury; repairs metal conduits.
  • David Harper: A founder who works with Peter Leighton; son of Goodwife Gristwood.
  • John Lambert: An evangelical.
  • Vervey: Common Council attorney; a stalwart reformer.
  • Heslop: Judge with a poor reputation for honesty.
  • Bernard "Pockface" Toky: A defrocked novice monk from Deptford; pockfaced from an earlier bout of smallpox; a bad guy.
  • Sam Wright: Hired bady; large hulking fellow; Toky's mate.
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First Sentence edit see section history

I HAD LEFT MY HOUSE in Chancery Lane early, to go to the Guildhall to discuss a case in which I was acting for the City Council.

Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 2 of 5 in Matthew Shardlake Mysteries. (standard series)

Preceded by Dissolution, and followed by Sovereign.

This is book 71 of 122 in Znanje - Knjiga dostupna svima. (community list)

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. C. J. Sansom (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Viking Pr
Country: USA
Publication Date: 2005
ISBN: 0670033723
Page Count: 502

Classification edit see section history

Books with Additional Background Information edit see section history

   
  • Dissolution

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