The ''Shardlake series'' is a series of

historical mystery The historical mystery or historical whodunit is a subgenre of two literary genres, historical fiction and mystery fiction. These works are set in a time period considered historical from the author's perspective, and the central plot involves th ...

novels by C. J. Sansom, set in the reign of Henry VIII in the 16th century. Sansom has said that he plans to write further Shardlake novels taking the lawyer into the reign of Elizabeth I.

Description

The series' protagonist is the

hunchback Kyphosis is an abnormally excessive convex curvature of the spine as it occurs in the thoracic and sacral regions. Abnormal inward concave ''lordotic'' curving of the cervical and lumbar regions of the spine is called lordosis. It can result ...

ed lawyer Matthew Shardlake, who is assisted in his adventures by Mark Poer and then Jack Barak. Shardlake works on commission initially from

Thomas Cromwell Thomas Cromwell (; 1485 – 28 July 1540), briefly Earl of Essex, was an English lawyer and statesman who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false charge ...

in ''

Dissolution Dissolution may refer to: Arts and entertainment Books * ''Dissolution'' (''Forgotten Realms'' novel), a 2002 fantasy novel by Richard Lee Byers * ''Dissolution'' (Sansom novel), a 2003 historical novel by C. J. Sansom Music * Dissolution, in mu ...

'' and '' Dark Fire'', Archbishop

Thomas Cranmer Thomas Cranmer (2 July 1489 – 21 March 1556) was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He helped build the case for the annulment of Henry' ...

in '' Sovereign'' and ''

Revelation In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing of some form of truth or knowledge through communication with a deity or other supernatural entity or entities. Background Inspiration – such as that bestowed by God on the ...

'', Queen

Catherine Parr Catherine Parr (sometimes alternatively spelled Katherine, Katheryn, Kateryn, or Katharine; 1512 – 5 September 1548) was Queen of England and Ireland as the last of the six wives of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 12 July 1543 until ...

in '' Heartstone'' and ''

Lamentation A lament or lamentation is a passionate expression of grief, often in music, poetry, or song form. The grief is most often born of regret, or mourning. Laments can also be expressed in a verbal manner in which participants lament about somethin ...

'', and Princess

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

in ''

Tombland ''Tombland'' is a historical mystery novel by British author C. J. Sansom. It is the seventh book in the Matthew Shardlake series, following 2014's ''Lamentation''. Set in the summer of 1549, the story deals with the investigation of a murder ...

''. The seventh book, ''Tombland'', was published in October 2018. An eighth book, ''Ratcliff'', will be published in August 2023.

Novels

Adaptations

Radio

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

has adapted novels in the Shardlake series as part of its ''15-Minute Drama'' series. In 2012, ''Dissolution'' was adapted into a 10-part radio serial by Colin MacDonald, starring

Jason Watkins Jason Watkins (born 28 October 1962) is an English stage, film and television actor. He played the lead role in the two-part drama ''The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies'', for which he won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor. He has also ...

as Shardlake and

Mark Bonnar Richard Mark Bonnar (born 19 November 1968) is a Scottish actor. He is known for his roles as Max in ''Guilt'', Duncan Hunter in '' Shetland'', Bruno Jenkins in ''Casualty'', Detective Finney in ''Psychoville'', DCC Mike Dryden in '' Line of Du ...

as Cromwell. BBC Radio 4 later broadcast ''Dark Fire'' in 2014, with Justin Salinger taking over the role of Shardlake and Bryan Dick playing Barak, ''Sovereign'' in 2015, ''Revelation'' in 2017, ''Heartstone'' in 2018, and ''Lamentation'' in 2021, all adapted by Colin MacDonald as 10-part serials.

Television

In 2007, the BBC commissioned an adaptation of ''Dissolution'', with

Kenneth Branagh Sir Kenneth Charles Branagh (; born 10 December 1960) is a British actor and filmmaker. Branagh trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and has served as its president since 2015. He has won an Academy Award, four BAFTAs (plus ...

set to star as Shardlake. Branagh chose instead to star as the eponymous protagonist in the BBC series '' Wallander''. In 2023,

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and deligh ...

greenlit an adaptation of the Shardlake novels. The series will consist of four episodes, and will be directed by

Justin Chadwick Justin Chadwick (born 6 December 1968) is an English actor and television and film director. He directed episodes of ''EastEnders'', '' Byker Grove'', ''The Bill'', '' Spooks'' and '' Red Cap'' before directing nine of the fifteen episodes of ...

References

External links

* {{CJ Sansom Novels Book series introduced in 2003 Novels by C. J. Sansom Cultural depictions of Henry VIII Mystery novels by series Novels adapted into radio programs Fictional historical detectives British novels adapted into television shows