Dark Fire by C.J. Sansom (My Goodreads Review))

Dark Fire by C.J. Sansom

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Excellent historical read. Set in King Henry VIII's England of 1540. Matthew Shardlake must help Thomas Cromwell. The king's main man is in serious trouble concerning the Anne of Cleeves marriage. In an attempt to win back favour with the king, Cromwell enlists the help of the hunchback lawyer Matthew Shardlake to find the secret of Greek Fire. In this day and age, Greek fire is akin to an atomic weapon and would allow Henry VIII's navy to have tremendous power. The problems start for Matthew as he comes across a collection of dead bodies along his investigative way. Soon his own life is in peril too.

This is a gritty fast-paced historical thriller set against the backdrop of protestant reformist England etc. It has a splendid feel and is the second Shardlake story I have read. It was very compelling and I'll certainly be reading the third instalment after this exciting historical thriller brought 1540's London to life.

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Sunrise Over the Fenland.

It was a glorious sunrise over the Fen. We had got up before driving to King's Lynn on a shopping expedition. This is before coming back and finding a Soviet Tank in front of the drive - as you do. 

The kind morning moment allowed for reflection of a kind autumn day. We had a coffee and watched from the gate as the sun came up. A fine start to my four days off of work.

Where Do the Muntjac Deer Live?

There a so many of them. Often I have to pick up the dead ones when they have been hit by road vehicles. The whole area is surrounded by fields and I often see them in the distance. Obviously, they live in these fields, but they are exceptionally good at hiding. I'm writing about the Muntjac deer, like the one in the above photo. They are usually very skittish and zoom off at the merest sight of a human being. I suspect they like hedgerows or the ditches between the fields. For they seem quick to go to ground. Sometimes, I hear them outside of my house in the farm fields opposite. My wife has a telescope with night vision. We see them in abundance through the night vision scope because of the green glow of their body heat. They are always running about at night. I often see them very early in a morning, when going to work. But during the day, they go to ground.  

Then, the other afternoon, I parked the council van under a tree and on a bridle path just outside the town of Chatteris in the Fenland of England. I decided to have a few minutes break and a cup of tea. Then out of the hedge jumped the muntjac in the photo above. I was gobsmacked. The creature could not have realised I was so close and in the van because it would be off like lightning at the mere sight of me. Carefully, I pulled out my mobile and put it on the camera setting. I managed to get a few quick shots as the Muntjac walked along the verge. Then it sensed me and shot off into the thickets. Still, it was a little moment of delight during a minor working pit stop.