Revelation

by C. J. Sansom Book 4 in the The Shardlake Series series.

First published 2008

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In 1543, Matthew Shardlake is representing Adam Kite, a young religious obsessive confined in Bedlam, when his old friend Roger Elliard is murdered. The killing is followed by further deaths staged according to images from the Book of Revelation, suggesting that the murderer has designed a sequence whose final victims have already been chosen. Shardlake and Jack Barak search London’s churches, hospitals and reformist circles for a connection among the crimes.

Their investigation coincides with Henry VIII’s courtship of Catherine Parr and renewed pressure on Protestants from conservative bishops. Archbishop Cranmer fears that the murders may be used to discredit religious reform, while Shardlake must determine whether Adam’s visions reveal knowledge or vulnerability. The case turns apocalyptic belief into a practical method of terror and forces Shardlake to confront how persecution and fanaticism can reinforce one another.