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Original poster

What next after C.J Samson and S.J Parris?

88 replies

Partylots · 01/07/2021 21:14

I’ve got a mega long commute (90 mins each way usually) and have been having a lovely time working my way through all the CJ Samson Shardlakes and SJ Parris Giordiano Bruno books on audiobook. I’ve really enjoyed the rollicking good Tudor mysteries! (And sort of fancy Bruno but not as much as Jack Barak!) but I e now finished than all and wondering if there is anything similar but also as good??

OP posts:
cariadlet · 15/07/2021 19:17

I agree that Dominion by C. J. Sansom is a good read. Anyone who enjoys that might also like One Night in Winter by Simon Sebag Montefiore. It's a mystery set in Stalinist Moscow.

cariadlet · 15/07/2021 19:12

I disagree with the pp who disliked Tombland;I loved it. I really enjoyed the detail of the camp. I didn't know anything about the rebellion and am really interested in popular uprisings eg the Peasants Revolt and in groups like the Levellers and the Diggers (in the Civil War). There's a terrible tragic inevitability in the way that ordinary people so often blamed corrupt gentry or nobles for their problems, put their faith in the monarch and were always betrayed and treated harshly.

Sittinginthesand · 15/07/2021 18:56

Agree that Tombland was turgid - the most recent swanston ashes of London book seems weaker too, just a bit dull!

Sittinginthesand · 15/07/2021 18:54

Oh cripes, I’ve read too many of these … maybe need to branch out from historical mysteries! Robert Harris is vg - Pompeii is excellent.

woodhill · 15/07/2021 18:44

Set in

Not too difficult to read but good plot twists

woodhill · 15/07/2021 18:41

I quite like Susannah Gregory with the Thomas Challoner series.,cpser in restoration England and very compelling

RightOnTheEdge · 15/07/2021 18:36

Has anyone tried the John Shakespeare books by Rory Clements?
It's a while since I read them but I'm sure they were in a similar vein to the Shardlake series.

Purpletomato · 11/07/2021 22:35

Another vote for Sharon Penman. Conn Iguldon is also good if you want to branch out into historical fiction set outside Britain.

Boomshakalack · 11/07/2021 22:35

Used excellent twice there. I loved the Shardlake books, but haven’t managed the last one.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 11/07/2021 22:26

@TonTonMacoute

I have enjoyed all the Shardlake books but am a quarter of the way through the last one, Tombland, and am finding it the most massive slog. Way too much detail of the surroundings and nowhere near enough actual story.

I'm on the verge of giving up on it if it doesn't get a shift on!

Anyone else find this?

It never really picks up. Too much historical research and not enough actual story.
HPandTheNeverEndingBedtime · 11/07/2021 22:09

A one off by Sansom was Dominiom, set during WW2 basically a 'What if... Churchill never became prime minister and the Germans won the war'. Very interesting story.

Boomshakalack · 11/07/2021 22:04

Sharon Penman is an excellent writer. The Sunne in Splendour is about the Wars of the Roses and is excellent.

thecatfromjapan · 11/07/2021 19:17

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco.

Slothkin · 08/07/2021 12:52

Possibly a bit leftfield but you might enjoy The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey - a bed bound detective investigates whether Richard III was guilty of having the princes in the tower murdered (one of the Morse books is an homage). The BBC adaptation of I, Claudius is on Audible and I’ve enjoyed that on many a long journey! It’s a superb full-cast adaptation.

Flitter123 · 08/07/2021 12:40

Can I just say, as much as I love Shardlake ( and I really do) I find it really hard to listen to on audiobook because of the weak voice they give Matthew Shardlake himself. He sounds so weak and whiny! He’s supposed to have grown up on farm so he wouldn’t be that posh, and he’s a successful lawyer so he’d need quite a commanding voice. I always imagine him to be quite stern and gruff on the outside, particularly when he’s working.

PenCreed · 08/07/2021 12:23

@Ellmau

Not crime exactly (well i guess there are elements that are, but not procedural), but try Dorothy Dunnett's brilliant Lymond Chronicles. Starts with The Game Of Kings.
I came to this thread to suggest these! They're more court intrigue than crime, but they are great. Lymond is high on my fictional crushes list.
Ellmau · 07/07/2021 22:06

Not crime exactly (well i guess there are elements that are, but not procedural), but try Dorothy Dunnett's brilliant Lymond Chronicles. Starts with The Game Of Kings.

dementedma · 05/07/2021 20:38

Ken Follet's Pillars of the Earth series

Original poster
Partylots · 05/07/2021 20:33

So many recs! Thanks so much all!

OP posts:
Original poster
Partylots · 05/07/2021 20:31

@LemonRedwood ooh thanks! Intrigued by them

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IamEarthymama · 05/07/2021 20:30

I love both Shardlake and Bruno, (we nearly called the pup Hermes Trismegistus!)

I second or third Phil Rickman, I was in Glastonbury last week reading Bones of Avalon ☺️, he’s a great writer.

Andrew Taylor is brilliant too.

I am going to recommend Ellis Peters, her Brother Cadfael mysteries are great.
www.fantasticfiction.com/p/ellis-peters/Cadfael
When stated work in libraries in the 70s they were in huge demand and I still enjoy them.
The dramatised versions with Philip Madoc are sometimes available on iPlayer.

Original poster
Partylots · 05/07/2021 20:30

@Classica I REALLY fancy Barak! Absolutely loads. He is a crap husband @MsTSwift but I don’t want to marry him… 😜

OP posts:
LemonRedwood · 05/07/2021 19:53

I've read the S W Perry Jackdaw books and liked them too.

OublietteBravo · 05/07/2021 19:52

I’d suggest the following:

The Queen’s Man (Sharon Penman) - the first of a four book series.

The King’s Justice (EM Powell) - the first in the Stanton and Burling series.

LemonRedwood · 05/07/2021 19:52

The Bradecote and Catchpoll series by Sarah Hawkswood is good. 12th Century rather than Tudor era and a reasonable amount of liberty taken with the role of sheriffs and serjeants in those times but very enjoyable nonetheless. I'm four books in and hooked

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