A gripping BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation predicated on the second novel in C. J. Sansom’s bestselling Tudor criminal offense series.

Summer, 1540. It has been 3 years since the terrible occasions at Scarnsea monastery, and lawyer-detective Matthew Shardlake is living a noiseless existence in London – until a summons from Cromwell views him getting into another dangerous secret assignment.

Someone offers stolen the last barrel of ‘Greek Fire’: a legendary, highly potent incendiary tool thought lost because the fall about Shardlake: Dark Open fire: BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of Constantinople. Shardlake is normally tasked with tracking it down – and he must move quickly, for Cromwell is out of favour using the King and is counting on the precious substance to save his skin.

But Shardlake has another, equally urgent case to cope with – defending an orphan girl, Elizabeth Wentworth, who’s accused of murdering her young cousin. Aided by Cromwell’s man, Barak, Shardlake must competition against time to solve both instances, for the fates of both Cromwell and Elizabeth rely on him…

Winner of the 2005 CWA Ellis Peters Historical Dagger Honor, Dark Fire may be the second thrilling instalment in the ‘Shardlake’ series. This atmospheric crime dilemma, starring Justin Salinger as Shardlake, Bryan Dick as Barak and Robert Glenister as Thomas Cromwell, features deception, dark secrets, captivating characters and a captivating historical placing. Duration: 2 hours 30 mins approx.