The twisting plotline is a triumph of narrative tension with a satisfyingly surprising denouement. When a colleague and close friend of Shardlake’s is horribly murdered, he finds himself, once more, sucked into Tudor power politics, with all its attendant risks… Meanwhile, the Bishop of London, Bonner and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cranmer, are locked in a power struggle, where the stakes couldn’t be higher – a heretic’s fiery death. King Henry, recently widowed after Catherine Howard’s execution, is looking around for a new queen – and a certain good-looking widow, Catherine Parr, has caught his eye. I have just finished reading the fourth book in the series, Revelation, and in my opinion it’s right up there with Dark Fire, my favourite. Master Shardlake is a hunchback, who has battled against his disability to become a lawyer – which is a greater achievement than you might think, considering that Sansom’s detective series is set in King Henry VIII’s turbulent reign. His sleuth of choice is Matthew Shardlake, who should have some sort of medal as the unlikeliest P.I. If you weren’t inspired back then to pick up this author’s work, I strongly recommend you do so, now. On sending sample chapters of his first book, Dissolution, out to a number of agents, his work generated so much interest there was a bidding war for it. Those of you who attended the Writers’ Club meeting, will probably remember the tall, quiet-spoken ex-solicitor who matter-of-factly charted his meteoric writing career.

Like your whodunit with a twist of history? Well, look no further than one of our local authors, Chris Sansom.

Revelation by C.J. Sansom