Dissolution

Dissolution by the late, great C. J. Sansom is our introduction to Matthew Shardlake: a disabled barrister with a keen legal mind, whose criminal investigations during the reign of Henry VIII bring Tudor England to vivid life … The turmoil of the time – religious and social – adds a layer of peril to this twisty murder mystery … Dissolution is at once a fiendish puzzle and a slice of gritty historical fiction, with a brilliantly unconventional detective at its heart – Richard Osman, bestselling author of We Solve Murders * WSJ *Remarkable … The sights, the voices, the very smell of this turbulent age seem to rise from the page – P. D. James, author of the Inspector Adam Dalgliesh seriesExtraordinarily impressive. The best crime novel I have read this year – Colin Dexter, author of the Inspector Morse seriesTerrific. Historical fiction at its finest – Peter Robinson, author of the Inspector Alan Banks seriesTerrific … a remarkable, imaginative feat. It is a first-rate murder mystery and one of the most atmospheric historical novels I’ve read in years * Mail on Sunday *Dissolution is not just a fascinating detective story, but a convincing portrait of a turbulent period * Sunday Telegraph *Matthew Shardlake combines engrossing historical detail with a first-rate murder mystery. A really satisfying page-turner * Independent *Sansom has a greater talent for animating period details than most of his contemporaries; his rendering of the Tudor winter in the first of the Shardlake series makes you reach for thick fleece blankets * The Guardian *I don’t read historical novels any more — it’s a busman’s holiday — but I make an exception for C. J. Sansom’s Shardlake books, which are set amid the uncertainties of the sixteenth-century Henrician Reformation – Bernard Cornwell, The Times, ‘The 25 books you must read’CJ Sansom’s books are arguably the best Tudor novels going * Sunday Times *

C. J. Sansom was educated at Birmingham University, where he took a BA and then a PhD in history. After working in a variety of jobs, he retrained as a solicitor and practised in Sussex until becoming a full-time writer. Sansom is the bestselling author of the critically acclaimed Shardlake series, as well as Winter in Madrid and Dominion. C.J. Sansom died in April 2024.

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