«When it comes to intriguing Tudor-based narratives, Hilary Mantel has a serious rival . . . A Scottish historian who had a career in law before turning to fiction, Sansom finds an ideal protagonist in Matthew Shardlake, the humane hunchbacked lawyer-sleuth, in his Tudor novels»

Sunday Times

«A book to curl up with . . . At 880 pages it's a real doorstopper, but the inventive plot is a delight, and the characterization is as strong as ever»

Independent

«Sansom blends impeccable historical research with a bloody good whodunnit»

The Times

«Tudor England of 1549 is effortlessly evoked. The murder mystery absorbs, the characters are vivid and the history is seductive, but it's the author's inclusive humanity that lingers»

Elizabeth Buchan, Daily Mail

«Sansom handles his huge cast with aplomb. This is a totally immersive and vividly written tale: compelling reading for history lovers and crime aficionados alike»

Laura Wilson, Guardian

«Sansom has the trick of writing an enthralling narrative. Like Hilary Mantel, he produces densely textured historical novels that absorb their readers in another time»

Andrew Taylor, Spectator

«Sansom has the rare knack of bringing the past to life in three dimensions . . . The honest Shardlake shines like a beacon»

Daily Telegraph

«Tudor England has never seemed so vibrantly alive and viscerally authentic than in the pages of the extraordinary Matthew Shardlake novels and after a four-year wait, C.J. Sansom’s mild-mannered, middle-aged, hunchback lawyer makes a magnificent return.»

Lancashire Evening Post

«Shardlake is a superb creation who gains more substance with each new book . . . A grand historical epic . . . 800 pages in Shardlake's company will always fly by»

Stephanie Merritt, Observer

«I really don’t think crime writing comes much better than this, and as always with Sansom there is a wealth of enjoyment in his rich storytelling . . . This novel may have been four years in the making but it was well worth the wait.»

Nudge

«Few writers can keep readers interested over the length of 866 pages, but C. J. Sansom is one of those . . . Built on substantial research and written with such confidence that the prose is both smooth and colourful, Tombland is a superb achievement»

Literary Review

«Yet again C. J. Sansom has produced a novel so rich in historical detail and colour that the reader feels immersed in Tudor England»

S Magazine

«A compelling story that rises above the stink of stables and open sewers . . . The marketplaces and hovels zing off the page, as does the colourful Norfolk dialect»

The Sun