NY: St. Martin, 2009.
It’s 1188 and Henry II of England is approaching the end of his reign, embroiled in unproductive fighting against Philip of France, as well as against his own rebellious sons. But this story is set in the royal forest of Sherwood, near Nottingham, where Robert Odo, youngest son of a Norman baron, and known as Robin Hood, holds sway.
NY: Viking, 2006.
Matthew Shardlake, property lawyer in 16th century London, was once an avid Reformer but in the first two books in this excellent series, he got too close to Thomas Cromwell, Richard Rich, and the other powers in Henry VII’s government and now he has mostly lost what faith he had and is very tired of Tudor religious politics, not to mention the vicious venality practiced by those involved in it.
As a retired public librarian (very large system in a very large city), I've been writing book reviews for the consumption of other people for more than 40 years. Since 1999, I've been posting my reviews to a personal website, but I'm now shifting my reviewing jones to this blog.
I have been a semi-professional genealogist since the 1960s and I have another blog of book reviews in the field of family research! To read those, go to BookSmith's Genealogy Book Reviews.
