"Matthew Shardlake, a keenly intelligent hunchback lawyer in the service of Thomas Cromwell, seeks to create a world in which faith and charity would be enough to settle differences. When England breaks away from the Roman Catholic Church, Cromwell is charged with the task of suppressing the country's monasteries and confiscating their land. As Shardlake starts to doubt Cromwell's methods for achieving reform, he is sent to investigate a monastery murder that only serves to fuel his suspicions, even as his own loyalty comes under the microscope"