C J Sansom

The Shardlake novels are even better. It 's ok to read them out of context, my husband did and still made sense of them.

They are wonderful, I agree. But if you can, read them in sequence as the way Shardlake's view of the reformation and his perception of some of the main players of the period, change and develop over the series, will be lost, if you don't. And also, reading in sequence gives a brilliant insight into his disability and how it, in some ways, forms his character.

And yes, Winter in Madrid is superb.

I agree, read them in sequence if you can.
And I enjoyed the last one of the series the least as it seemed a little contrived to me, to fit in with an historical event.
The most recent one is about an alternative world in which Uk did not go to war with the nazi's. Dominion. also a good one.

I think they should be read in sequence as well. I haven`t read anything else by him, did wonder about trying Winter in Madrid, maybe I will. In an interview he said he thought that there would only be one more Shardlake story, due to the passage of time in the books, but that was a while ago, and I`m still waiting!

Isn't Sansom himself ill with leukaemia or similar? he may be finding that he can't turn out books at the same rate and be preparing us to face disappointment at some stage in the future.

If that`s true, then I`m sorry to hear it, I didn`t know.

I will be very sorry if that's right.

He refers to it in the epilogue to his latest book, Dominion set in the days after WWII when Hitler has won the war.

That is so sad.

I have loved all his books, especially the shardlake series. to anyone who hasn't discovered them, you are in for a treat. Dominion is totally different, and on reading his afterword I was really made to think. Do hope he recovers to enjoy life and maybe write more books if he wants to.

The afterword (and the book of course) should be read by all those eligible to vote in the forthcoming Scottish referendum I think, don't you?

Yes, definitely!

I picked up the first two Shardlake books when I was desperate for something to read while my OH was in hospital. I was hooked by the end of the first chapter and read straight through the lot. Not only are they such a good read themselves, but I've also been encouraged to read a lot more about the Tudor period to fill in the background.