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‘Hilary Mantel has a serious rival’ – Sunday Times

‘History never seemed so real’ – New York Times

Following on from Dissolution and Dark Fire, Sovereign is the third gripping historical novel in C. J. Sansom’s number one bestselling Shardlake series, perfect for fans of Hilary Mantel and Philippa Gregory.

England, 1541. King Henry VIII has set out on a spectacular Progress to the North to attend an extravagant submission by his rebellious subjects in York.

Already in the city are lawyer Matthew Shardlake and his assistant Jack Barak, whom have reluctantly undertaken a special mission for Archbishop Thomas Cranmer – to ensure the welfare of an important but dangerous conspirator who is to be returned to London for interrogation.

But the murder of a York glazier involves Shardlake in deeper mysteries, connected not only to the prisoner in York castle but to the royal family itself. And when Shardlake and Barak stumble upon a cache of secret documents which could threaten the Tudor throne, a chain of events unfolds that will lead Shardlake to face the most terrifying fate of the age . . .

This is the third novel in C. J. Sansom’s internationally bestselling Shardlake series. It is followed by Revelation, the fourth book in the series.

‘Hilary Mantel has a serious rival’ – Sunday Times

‘History never seemed so real’ – New York Times

Heartstone is the fifth spellbinding mystery in C. J. Sansom’s number one bestselling Shardlake series, perfect for fans of Hilary Mantel and Philippa Gregory.

England, 1545. England is at war. Henry VIII’s invasion of France has gone badly wrong, and a massive French fleet is preparing to sail across the Channel.

Meanwhile, Matthew Shardlake is given an intriguing legal case by an old servant of Queen Catherine Parr. Asked to investigate claims of ‘monstrous wrongs’ committed against a young ward of the court, Shardlake and his assistant Jack Barak journey to Portsmouth. There, Shardlake also intends to investigate the mysterious past of Ellen Fettiplace, a young woman incarcerated in the Bedlam.

Once in Portsmouth, Shardlake and Barak find themselves in a city preparing for war. The mysteries surrounding the two cases involve Shardlake in reunions both with an old friend and an old enemy close to the throne. And soon, events will converge on board one of the King’s great warships gathered in Portsmouth harbour, waiting to confront the approaching French fleet . . .

Heartstone is the fifth novel in C. J. Sansom’s gripping historical series. It is followed by the sixth book in the series, Lamentation.

‘Hilary Mantel has a serious rival’ – Sunday Times

‘History never seemed so real’ – New York Times

Lamentation is the sixth breathtaking historical novel in C. J. Sansom’s number one bestselling Shardlake series, perfect for fans of Hilary Mantel and Philippa Gregory.

England, 1546. King Henry VIII is dying. Meanwhile, his Protestant and Catholic councillors are engaged in a final and decisive power struggle to control the government of Henry’s successor, eight–year–old Prince Edward. As heretics are hunted across London, the Catholic party focus their attack on Henry’s sixth wife, Matthew Shardlake’s old mentor, Queen Catherine Parr, and Shardlake is unexpectedly summoned to Whitehall Palace.

For the Queen has a secret. She has written a confessional book, Lamentation of a Sinner, so radically Protestant that if it came to the King’s attention it could bring both her and her sympathizers crashing down.

When the book inexplicably vanishes, and a single page is found clutched in the hand of a murdered printer, Shardlake must help the desperate Queen. His loyalty will drive him into a swirl of intrigue inside the palace, where Catholic enemies and Protestant friends can be equally dangerous, and the political opportunists, who will follow the wind wherever it blows, more dangerous than either . . .

Lamentation is the sixth novel in C. J. Sansom’s gripping historical series. Continue the series with book seven, Tombland.