C. J. Sansom's stunning historical novel, Dark Fire, is set in Tudor England. The year is 1540, and Henry VIII is still in the process of dissolving the monasteries, after breaking with Rome and declaring himself the Supreme Head of the Church of England in 1534. However, London is abuzz with rumors that Henry wishes to divorce his current wife, Anne of Cleves, and take Catherine Howard, a young and pretty Catholic woman, as his next wife. This would put Henry's vicar, Thomas Cromwell, in jeopardy, since he was the one who pushed Anne of Cleves on Henry in the first place. To secure his position with the king, Cromwell hatches a plan involving the hero and narrator of the tale, Matthew Shardlake