I’m not much of a mystery reader but I do love historical fiction and am fascinated by the Tudor period (particularly Anne Boleyn’s rise, downfall and lasting influence), so when I recently discovered this series by C.J. Sansom I decided to give them a go. Dissolution takes place at the onset of the closing of the monasteries by Henry VIII, shortly after the death of his third wife, Jane. Matthew Shardlake is sent by Thomas Cromwell (who does NOT come off as remotely sympathetic in this book as he did in say, the Wolf Hall trilogy) to a large monastery to investigate the murder of a royal commissioner. And while I suspected the “who” early on, the “why” was surprising. And the level of historical detail made this an extremely immersive reading experience. I was sad to learn, while writing this post, that Sansom died in 2024, but there are still six more books in the series for me to enjoy.