(London) British author CJ Sansom, best known for his historical detective novels featuring Tudor-era lawyer and investigator Matthew Shardlake, has died, his publisher announced Monday. He was 71 years old.
Pan Macmillan said that Christopher John Sansom was working on his latest Shardlake novel, Ratcliffewhen he died on Saturday after a period of deterioration in his health.
Sansom introduced the character Shardlake in his first novel, Dissolution, a murder mystery published in 2003 set in 16th-century Tudor England. The title referred to the dissolution of the monasteries by King Henry VIII.
The combination of an intriguing detective story and compelling historical detail has earned Sansom critical acclaim and many admirers. He went on to publish six more novels featuring Shardlake.
Dissolution was adapted into a series on Disney+. The series, starring actors Sean Bean and Arthur Hughes, is set to premiere on Wednesday.
Sansom also wrote two standalone historical thrillers, Winter in Madrid And Dominion. More than 3 million copies of his books are in print, his publisher said.
“Being an intensely private person, Chris wanted from the beginning to be published quietly and without fanfare,” said his publisher Maria Rejt.
“But he always took immense pleasure in the public’s enthusiastic reactions to his novels and worked tirelessly on each book, never wanting to disappoint a single reader. »
Sansom was born in 1952 in Edinburgh. He had a doctorate in history and trained as a lawyer before becoming a full-time writer.
In 2022, he won the Crime Writers’ Association’s Diamond Dagger Award for outstanding contribution to the genre. The association describes him as “a modern master of historical suspense, whatever the eras”.