The third novel in the compelling Shardlake series.

'C. J. Sansom’s books are arguably the best Tudor novels going' – The Sunday Times

Following on from Dissolution and Dark Fire, Sovereign is the third gripping historical novel in C. J. Sansom's number one bestselling Shardlake series, perfect for fans of Hilary Mantel and Philippa Gregory.

England, 1541. King Henry VIII has set out on a spectacular Progress to the North to attend an extravagant submission by his rebellious subjects in York.

Already in the city are lawyer Matthew Shardlake and his assistant Jack Barak, whom have reluctantly undertaken a special mission for Archbishop Thomas Cranmer – to ensure the welfare of an important but dangerous conspirator who is to be returned to London for interrogation.

But the murder of a York glazier involves Shardlake in deeper mysteries, connected not only to the prisoner in York castle but to the royal family itself. And when Shardlake and Barak stumble upon a cache of secret documents which could threaten the Tudor throne, a chain of events unfolds that will lead Shardlake to face the most terrifying fate of the age . . .

This is the third novel in C. J. Sansom's internationally bestselling Shardlake series. It is followed by Revelation, the fourth book in the series.

"I have enjoyed C. J. Sansom’s series of historical novels set in Tudor England progressively more and more. Sovereign, following Dissolution and Dark Fire, is the best so far . . . Sansom has the perfect mixture of novelistic passion and historical detail" - Sunday Telegraph

"Even if heart-pounding suspense and stomach-tightening tension were all Sansom’s writing brought to the table, few would feel short-changed. Added to these gifts is a superb approximation of the crucible of fear, treachery and mistrust that was Tudor England, and a memorably blood-swollen portrait of the ogreish Henry’s inhumane kingship. A parchment-turner, and a regal one at that" - Sunday Times

"The best detective story I’ve read since The Murder of Roger Ackroyd . . . [a] devilishly ingenious whodunit . . . Sansom’s description of the brutality of Tudor life is strong stuff, but he is a master storyteller" - Guardian

"[The] third volume of C. J. Sansom’s deservedly popular Tudor detective series . . . Between them, Sansom and Starkey have the sixteenth century licked" - Independent

"A brilliant evocation of tyranny in Tudor England" - Literary Review

"A fine setting for crime fiction and C. J. Sansom exploits it superbly . . . Never mind the crime: this is a terrific novel" - TLS