''Tombland'' is a

historical mystery The historical mystery or historical whodunit is a subgenre of two literary genres, historical fiction and mystery fiction. These works are set in a time period considered historical from the author's perspective, and the central plot involves th ...

novel by

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

author

C. J. Sansom Christopher John Sansom (9 December 1952 – 27 April 2024) was a British writer of Historical mystery, historical crime novels, best known for his Shardlake series, Matthew Shardlake series. He also wrote the spy novel ''Winter in Madrid'' and ...

. It is the seventh book in the Matthew Shardlake series, following 2014's ''

Lamentation A lament or lamentation is a passionate expression of grief, often in music, poetry, or song form. The grief is most often born of regret, or mourning. Laments can also be expressed in a verbal manner in which participants lament about something ...

''. Set in the summer of 1549, the story deals with the investigation of a murder in

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

. Matthew Shardlake is entrusted by Princess Elizabeth, later

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...

, to investigate the murder of the wife of a distant relative of hers. During the course of the investigation Shardlake gets involved in

Kett's Rebellion Kett's Rebellion was a revolt in the English county of Norfolk during the reign of Edward VI, largely in response to the enclosure of land. It began at Wymondham on 8 July 1549 with a group of rebels destroying fences that had been put up by wealt ...

. The title comes from the Tombland area of

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

which is situated just outside

Norwich Cathedral Norwich Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Norwich, Norfolk, England. The cathedral is the seat of the bishop of Norwich and the mother church of the dioc ...

. Tombland's etymology is Danish in origin meaning 'empty space' or 'open land', and in the 11th century the area was home to an Anglo-Scandinavian marketplace.

Characters

Historical characters portrayed in the novel include: * Princess Elizabeth (the later Queen Elizabeth I) * Princess Mary (Norfolk Feudary and the later Queen Mary I) *

William Parr, Marquess of Northampton William Parr, Marquess of Northampton, Earl of Essex, 1st Baron Parr, 1st Baron Hart (14 August 151328 October 1571), was the only brother of Queen Katherine Parr, the sixth and final wife of King Henry VIII. He was a "sincere, plain, dire ...

(

Lord-lieutenant A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibility o ...

and the King's step-uncle) *

John Dudley, Earl of Warwick John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland (1504Loades 2008 – 22 August 1553) was an English general, admiral, and politician, who led the government of the young King Edward VI from 1550 until 1553, and unsuccessfully tried to install Lady Jane ...

(general and member of the Privy Council) * Thomas Codd (Mayor of Norwich) *

Augustine Steward Augustine Steward (1491 – 1571), of Norwich, Norfolk, was an English politician. Career Steward was a mercer and an armiger. He was admitted a freeman of the city of Norwich on 12 March, 1516 and after serving for some years on the common cou ...

(alderman of Norwich) * Thomas Aldrich (former mayor) *

Matthew Parker Matthew Parker (6 August 1504 – 17 May 1575) was an English bishop. He was the Archbishop of Canterbury in the Church of England from 1559 to his death. He was also an influential theologian and arguably the co-founder (with Thomas Cranmer ...

(bishop) *

Robert Kett Robert Kett () was the leader of Kett's Rebellion. Kett was the fourth son of Thomas Kett, of Forncett, Norfolk and his wife Margery. He is thought to have been a tanner, but he certainly held the manor of Wymondham in Norfolk. With his bro ...

(yeoman and rebel leader) * William Kett (Robert's brother) * Richard Southwell (courtier and Princess Mary's steward) * Sir John Flowerdew (lawyer and landowner) Fictional characters include: * Matthew Shardlake * Nicholas Overton (Shardlake's assistant) * Jack Barak (Shardlake's former assistant) * Josephine Brown (Shardlake's former servant) * Edward Brown (Josephine's husband) * John Boleyn (murder suspect and distant relative of Princess Elizabeth)

Reception

Critical reception for ''Tombland'' has been positive. Stephanie Merritt writing for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' commented that the novel is 'more of a grand historical epic than a tightly packed whodunnit.' In a similar vein Andrew Taylor writing for ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

'' praised the book as 'a Tudor epic disguised as an historical crime novel.'

References

{{CJ Sansom Novels 2018 British novels British crime novels Novels by C. J. Sansom Novels set in the 1540s British historical novels Novels set in Norfolk Macmillan Publishers books