Matthew Shardlake is instructed by Queen Catherine Parr to help one of her old friends with a case before the corrupt Court of Wards. There are reasons to believe that the Hobbey family is trying to make money out of the lands of their orphaned warden Hugh Curteys. Matthew and Barak head for Hoyland priory, not far from Portsmouth where the English army is preparing for an invasion of the French. The ships The Great Harry and The Mary Rose are already anchored there. Moreover, Hoyland is not far from where Ellen Fettiplace grew up and where something happened 19 years ago that made her afraid to leave the Bedlam hospital.
In this fifth book, Matthew finds England at war with France. In addition, he is also somewhat at war with himself it seems. He investigates two cases of people who don’t want to be helped and this drags him into secrets and dangerous political games.
This is the thickest book of the series so far. There are a lot of subplots besides the two mysteries, of which the invasion of France is the biggest. If you know the fate of The Mary Rose then you know where we are heading towards.
Some readers enjoy the books of this series that stay in London better. I loved Sovereign immensely when we went to York and met the king up close. Heartstone also takes Matthew and Barak out and about. They befriend a group of archers and war is never far away. So, this comes very close to Sovereign and might be my second favourite Shardlake so far.
Although the mysteries are a little less fleshed out, I would never have guessed the truth in the Curtseys case myself. The pace of the book is a little slower than usual, but I found this historical setting working out very well. There is a lot going on in this book. And Matthew and Jack both remain complex main characters.
And yes here and there it’s perhaps a little less realistic. Matthew walks into a lot of drama with his eyes open. But this remains such a good series. And ‘this’Heartstone’ is definitely as strong as revelation. On to the next one, ‘Lamentation’.
What’s your favourite Shardlake novel? And do you recommend some other historical mystery series?
In Another Era 
I really enjoyed this one too. I did guess the truth about the Curteys but only because I had just read another book with a similar twist. I also loved Lamentation, but still need to read the last book, Tombland.
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