Gripping adaptation of C. J. Sansom's bestselling Tudor crime novel, the fourth in the series featuring lawyer detective Matthew Shardlake.

London, 1543. A serial killer is prowling the city, one who treats murder as a holy mission: preying upon radicals and creating gory tableaux inspired by a prophecy from the Book of Revelation. Archbishop Cranmer has asked Shardlake to conduct a secret investigation to catch the killer before word of the bloodshed reaches the King: one of the victims was close to Catherine Parr, Henry's current romantic obsession, and an ally of the reformers cause; Cranmer knows that such a taint will ruin any chance of her becoming Queen.

As the number of victims mounts, Shardlake and his trusty side-kick Barak are constantly wrong-footed - how does the killer know exactly what they plan to do next? Is there an informant amongst Cranmer's staff?

And Shardlake must also attend to another pressing case, that of a young man, Adam Kite, driven mad by the conviction that he is damned and that the Lord has forsaken him. Adam is being held in the Bedlam for his own safety - his wild rants about damnation verge on heresy - but Shardlake hopes his friend Guy the Apothecary can help to ease his suffering.

Cast:
Shardlake ..... Justin Salinger
Barak ..... Bryan Dick
Guy ..... Vincent Ebrahim
Harsnet ..... Carl Prekopp
Dorothy ..... Emily Bruni
Cantrell ..... David Seddon
Cranmer ..... Sean Baker
Lockley ..... Patrick Brennan
Adam ..... Luke MacGregor
Tamasin ..... Kirsty Oswald
Bunce ..... Clare Perkins

Other parts are played by members of the cast.

Writer ..... C. J. Sansom
Dramatist ..... Colin MacDonald
Producer and Director ..... Kirsteen Cameron

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2017. Show less