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 <i>We Solve Murders</i> * 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 series Extraordinarily impressive. The best crime novel I have read this year -- Colin Dexter, author of the Inspector Morse series Terrific. Historical fiction at its finest -- Peter Robinson, author of the Inspector Alan Banks series Terrific . . . 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, <i>The Times</i>, ‘The 25 books you must read’ CJ Sansom’s books are arguably the best Tudor novels going * Sunday Times *