I wasn't that enamoured of this, second Shardlake book. I liked the fact that Sansom took us in a very different direction and allowed us to see Shardlake at home in London rather than in the confined claustrophobic abbey of Scarnsea. Unfortunately I didn't find his London convincing. Perhaps I have been spoiled by Dickens and Sarah Waters so that I was expecting to see, feel and experience the filth and squalor of Tudor England and, in fairness to Sansom, he mentions it... But I didn't feel he managed to create it.
The plot also seemed a mark weaker than the first book by way of being more far fetched. The search for the apocalyptically destructive Greek Fire didn't ring true and I was far more interested in the sub-plot of Elisabeth Wentworth's trial for murder. The denouements and crises of both plots also failed to impress... It was too dramatic and too over-the-top.
It was still a decent read but not as intriguing or engaging as Dissolution.