Matthew Shardlake combines engrossing historical detail with a first-rate murder mystery. A really satisfying page-turner. ? Independent on SundaySansom 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. ? GuardianRemarkable . . . The sights, the voices, the very smell of this turbulent age seem to rise from the page. -- P.D. JamesExtraordinarily impressive. The best crime novel I have read this year. -- Colin DexterTerrific . . . 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 SundayTerrific. Historical fiction at its finest. -- Peter RobinsonDissolution is not just a fascinating detective story, but a convincing portrait of a turbulent period. ? Sunday TelegraphI 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 16th-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 Ph.D. 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 acclaimed Shardlake series, the Spanish Civil War thriller Winter in Madrid and the number one bestseller Dominion. He lives in Sussex.

Discover more at www.cjsansom.com