Sovereign (Shardlake) [Hardcover]

aWhen historical fiction clicks, thereas nothing more gripping . . . and C.J. Sansomas fantastic "Sovereign" left me positively baying for more. Itas that good. . . . Rebellion, plots, torture, fanaticism, a murder mystery and a real historical scandal come alive in this deeply satisfying novel.a
aDeirdre Donahue, "USA Today"
aAuthors of the caliber of P. D. James, Ruth Rendell, Ian Rankin, and Minette Walters remain rare. C. J. Sansomas Sovereign . . . deserves as wide a readership as any of the above. . . . Itas deeper, stronger, and subtler than most novels in the genre.a
a"The Sunday Independent" (London)

'So compulsive that, until you reach its final page, you’ll have
to be almost physically prised away from it.’

It’s deeper, stronger and subtler than most novels in this genre
(including Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose) . . . ‘

This gripping and engaging series seems ominously prescient about
the present, as well as genuinely enlightening about the past’

‘This series just gets better and better’

'deeper, stronger and subtler than most novels in this genre..The
series is becoming an annual treat'

'This is a compelling read, vividly capturing the atmosphere of
constant fear'

'Don’t open this book if you have anything urgent pending...you’ll
have to be almost physically prised away from it.'

'Sansom is excellent on contemporary horrors...You can lose
yourself in this world.'

'Historical crime fiction at its best.’

The third novel in the compelling Shardlake series

Autumn, 1541. Following the uncovering of a plot against his throne in Yorkshire, King Henry VIII has set out on a spectacular Progress to the North to overawe his rebellious subjects there. Accompanied by a thousand soldiers, the cream of the nobility, and his fifth wife Catherine Howard, the King is to attend an extravagant submission of the local gentry at York. Already in the city are lawyer Matthew Shardlake and his assistant Jack Barak. As well as assisting with legal work processing petitions to the King, Shardlake has reluctantly undertaken a special mission – to ensure the welfare of an important but dangerous conspirator being returned to London for interrogation. But the murder of a local glazier involves Shardlake in deeper mysteries, connected not only to the prisoner in York Castle but to the royal family itself. As the Great Progress arrives in the city, Shardlake and Barak stumble upon a cache of secret papers that holds danger for the King's throne, and a chain of events unfolds that will lead Shardlake facing the most terrifying fate of the age.

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. Sovereign is the third novel in his Shardlake series. He lives in Sussex.