«A triumph of Tudor history and mystery. Heartstone, as bristling as its predecessors with outlandish deaths, suspicious behaviour, jeopardy and plots of fiendish deviousness, plunges you into catastrophic upheavals caused by Henry’s foreign policy. Throughout, Heartstone is a rousing tour de force of period re-creation, testifying to Samson’s fascination with history…Like all the Shardlake books, Heartstone winningly shows Sansom’s crafty flair for hoodwinking even the most hawk-eyed reader.»

Peter Kemp, Sunday Times Culture

«CJ Sansom’s books are arguably the best Tudor novels going»

Sunday Times

«C. J. Sansom has created a convincingly realistic Tudor detective in Matthew Shardlake. He lives and breathes in an utterly convincing world, drawing the reader into the darker corners of history.»

Philippa Gregory, author of <i>The Other Boleyn Girl</i>

«Fans will need no introduction to Matthew Shardlake, the lawyer embroiled in dark secrets during the reign of Henry VIII. Newcomers can discover why Sansom’s Tudor mysteries exert such a pull.»

The Independent

«The best novel in this richly entertaining series . . . History never seemed so real.»

New York Times

«In my review of the previous Shardlake novel, Revelation, in these pages I described it as the best yet. Well, Heartstone is better . . . Sansom is now so settled in his milieu and at home with his characters that the story canters along effortlessly, while Tudor England is recreated with such attention to detail the reader feels propelled back in time.»

Tribune

«If you have a taste for period novels that marry gamey locales with incident-stuffed plotting, C. J. Sansom's books featuring his hunchback lawyer Matthew Shardlake are essential reading . . . Shardlake's battle with chicanery in every echelon of Tudor England is riveting.»

Barry Forshaw, Independent Best Books for Christmas

«. . . the pace and tension hot up splendidly as Shardlake’s inquiries take him to the Hampshire home of a family with a great deal to hide. A wholly unexpected twist takes us to a superb denouement aboard the doomed warship Mary Rose – terrific stuff, for both fans and newcomers to the series.»

Laura Wilson, The Guardian

«Murder, mystery and turbulent history are expertly twisted together in Sansom’s fifth Tudor crime novel.»

Sunday Times Culture ‘Must Reads’