The new Shardlake novel from the number one bestselling author, now in paperback. Summer, 1545. England is at war. Henry VIII's invasion of France has gone badly wrong, and a massive French fleet is preparing to cross the Channel ... Matthew Shardlake is given an intriguing legal case by an old servant of Queen Catherine Parr, a case which takes him to Portsmouth where he also plans to investigate the mysterious past of Ellen Fettiplace, a young woman incarcerated in the Bedlam. Events will lead Shardlake to an old friend, an old enemy and mortal danger ...