Revelation by C.J. Sansom is the fourth book in the author’s Shardlake series.

The book begins in the Spring of 1543. King Henry VIII is smitten by Catherine Parr whose elderly husband has just recently died, but she’s not all that keen, and who can blame her!

As the king gets older and more ill he seems to be hankering after the religion of his youth,  and all that goes with it, except the Pope of course. Catherine is a reformer, but some reformist congregations are becoming too strict, and  verging on lunacy.

When Shardlake’s friend ends up dead in a fountain, murdered horribly, and then another body is found, the circumstances lead Shardlake to believe that the murderer is a disgruntled reformist who is using the Book of Revelations to punish people that he disaproves of.

Shardlake is also trying to save a young man who has been sent to Bedlam for his own safety really as he has been drawing attention to himself with his vocal religious mania, people have been burnt at the stake for behaving like that.

This was another cracking read. If you do read it make sure that you read the historical notes at the back. I had no idea that there had been a lot of deliberation by the religious powersof the day over the Book of Revelations – as to whether it should be included in the bible or not. It does seem to have caused an awful lot of trouble over the years as it was thrillingly beloved by the Tudor Puritans, and likewise by the Christian Fundamentalists of today.

I must say that I didn’t realise that they picked and chose what they wanted to be included in the bible, so the whole thing has been manipulated, as well as being mis-translated.