Mystery Author Interviews

MBTB manager Dean James interviews C. J. Sansom, the author of Dissolution (Penguin; $14) and Dark Fire (Viking; $24.95).

Dean: Why did you choose the dissolution of the monasteries as a theme in your novel rather than some other aspect of Henry VIII's reign?

Sansom: Ideas for historical thrillers set in Tudor times have been buzzing round my head for years. The Dissolution of the Monasteries was a major event in English history, transforming the religious atmosphere of the country, removing a major feature of society and altering the very landscape as monasteries were left to go to ruin or replaced by country houses. It also involved the transfer of huge wealth to the Crown. As such it had tremendous dramatic potential and I was surprised this had never been exploited; so I decided to have a go. I had to research the Dissolution in some detail but I found it a fascinating story.

Dean: Why did you feature a person with a disability as a the main character?

Sansom: This wasn’t a conscious decision; I had a vague idea for the plot and then Shardlake and Mark came riding into my consciousness pretty well fully formed, I don’t know where from. Shardlake’s position as a hunchback is useful in that I always wanted my “detective” to have a chip on his shoulder, to be “different” and view his society as an outsider.


Dean: Is this going to be a series, and if so, what might Matthew encounter next? If not, will your next novel still be set during Henry III's reign?

Sansom: I am currently in the early stages of writing Dissolution’s successor, which again features Matthew Shardlake being bullied by Thomas Cromwell into undertaking a dangerous mission with political ramifications. It is set in 1540, three years after “Dissolution” and takes place entirely in London. There may be just a glimpse of Henry VIII this time; he is still very much on the throne. I have also recently finished a novel set in Spain during the Second World War.

MBTB store manager Dean James's review of Dissolution:
Dissolution (by C. J. Sansom; Viking; $24.95) There seems to be a bumper crop of outstanding first novels this year, and Dissolution is no exception. The time is the winter of 1537, when King Henry VIII of England and his henchman Thomas Cromwell are busily “dissolving” England’s religious houses in order to enrich the royal coffers. They are waging a vigorous crusade against the Catholic Church, forcing the English to accept the newly established Church of England, and one of the ways in which they are accomplishing this is by pillaging the monasteries of their rich treasures.
One of Cromwell’s commissioners is brutally murdered in the monastery at Scarnsea on the south coast of England, and he enlists his fellow reformer, lawyer Matthew Shardlake, to travel there to unravel the mystery. Accompanied by young and handsome protégé, Shardlake sets out, full of trepidation, but buoyed by his zeal for reform.
Shardlake, a hunchback, is an unlikely hero in many ways. Though he is fiercely intelligent, he feels shamed by his deformity, and his puritanical notions may at first make him seem unlikable. But as he delves further into the murder at Scarnsea, Shardlake must think further about the work of reform and the motives behind what Cromwell and his king are really doing. The community at Scarnsea has several memorable characters, and Shardlake must get to know them in order to solve the murders (of course, the first death is not the only one). Dissolution is a fascinating, beautifully written historical crime novel, and I hope that Sansom brings Matthew Shardlake back for further adventures in crime-solving in Tudor England.

Interview added 07/20/2003.