Matthew Shardlake series

I have started Heartstone by bestselling author C. J. Sansom. It is the fifth  of the Matthew Shardlake mystery series. The setting is 16th century England. King Henry VIII has now married wife number six, Catherine Parr, and is preparing England for war with France.

As usual Matthew Shardlake, the narrator, has several mysteries to solve.  The main one has to do with an assignment from the caring Queen Catherine who has Matthew representing the legal interests of the son of her retired maid.  Michael Calfill, the son of the retired maid died, presumably at his own hands, just before laying a Bill of Information before the Court of Wards in which he alleged some monstrous injustice against a former student, Hugh Curteys by his caregiver.  I am anxious to find out what the "monstrous injustice" really is.  I can guess that Michael's death was no suicide because he would not have killed himself just before the hearing.  The second mystery has to do with Ellen Fettiplace who suffers from agoraphobia and has been living for years in Bedlam, a place for the mentally ill.   Who exactly has been paying her bills at the Bedlam for nineteen years and where is her family?  Ellen was a character in the fourth book, Revelation.   The third and minor mystery has to do with Matthew's steward, Coldiron.  He is a new character in the series. Is Josephine his daughter?  Why is she really afraid of Coldiron?  Will Matthew be able to dismiss him and keep Josephine as an employee.  Finally, will Jack Barak, Matthew's law clerk and a recurring character from the previous series, really be conscripted in the military?  I am only on page 90 and I am loving all these mysteries. 

Cool Links

I have come across two really cool links this morning.  One is the link to podcastomatic which can instantly turn your blog into a podcast. The other has to do with a world outreach project.  I just gave $10:00 to the Archimedes Alliance organized by this caring Oregon teenager named Julien Leitner, who wants to change the world $2.00 at a time. "It's time to move the earth."

Free Ebook of Quotes

While it's available, get your free ebook with twitter-ready quotes compiled by the Lyttle sisters, Alicia and Lorette on amazon.  It is titled A Tweet A Day. I am loving #22:   "People are not lazy. They simply have impotent goals - that is, goals that do not inspire them." Anthony Robbins.  Quote #30 by President Abraham Lincoln, who we are now so very interested in these days, is inspirational for the new year: "Determine that the thing can and shall be done, and then we shall find the way."

Looking for Romance in 2013?

Happy New Year readers! If you are looking for romance, romance novels that is, have I got a link for you.  I found this Romance Matrix on scribd.com.  So sorry I can't link you to real-life romance folks.  Hey, reading, like real life romance, requires a lot of imagination.