Summer, 1545. England is at war. Henry VIIIs invasion of France has gone badly wrong. Meanwhile Matthew Shardlake is given an intriguing legal case by an old servant of Queen Catherine Parr. He is asked to investigate claims of monstrous wrongs committed against a young ward of the court, which have already involved one mysterious death. Paperback , 634 pages Published September 3rd 2010 by Macmillan (first published September 2nd 2010)