The books are set a little later than the Shardlake series in the reign of Elizabeth I. There are now seven novels in the series, as well as a collection of novellas.

Parris (real name Stephanie Jane Meritt) published Heresy, the first novel in a series of historical thrillers that came to be known as the Giordano Bruno series. Combined with almost magical story telling skills, the Shardlake series is a must-read for any historical fiction lover. One of them is the amount of intricate historical details the books contain – you can tell the author has a PhD in history! And he’s not afraid to shy away from the more darker, realistic aspects of early modern life. There are many reasons the Shardlake series of books is so popular. He works for well known historical figures such as Thomas Cromwell, Thomas Cranmer, Katherine Parr and even the future Elizabeth I. Sansom positions Shardlake at the centre of the Tudor world. The titular main character of the series is Matthew Shardlake, a hunchbacked lawyer, who despite his best efforts always seems to end up at the centre of courtly affairs and mysterious murders. The series starts with the first book Dissolution, set in the reign of Henry VIII and ends with Tombland, which was released in 2018. The Shardlake series is an enthralling series of historical mystery novels set in Tudor England. In fact, he’s probably my top historical fiction author EVER! I recommend his books to everyone – but what happens when you finish them all? What else can you read? Are you too looking for books like the Shardlake series? Ad In one of my first ever posts for this blog, I wrote about how much I loved author C.J.

First shardlake book