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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??

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Hercisback · 05/07/2021 19:49

Oh yes please to a mini series.

I like how none of the characters are "perfect" despite honorable intentions.

Standrewsschool · 05/07/2021 19:48

Just one Damned thing

What about the Chronicles of St Mary series - first one listed above. They’re good.

MsTSwift · 05/07/2021 19:47

Baraks a crap husband though

MsTSwift · 05/07/2021 19:47

Ooh following with interest enjoyed Wolf Hall trilogy accidentally found cj Samson - love it! Have a couple more to go.

Have you tried Sarah Dunant? Enjoyed her historical fiction last summer particularly Blood and Beauty about the Borgias (we were in Italy love reading books set where we travel)

Daktothefuture · 05/07/2021 19:42

Check out Mel Starr's Hugh de Singleton series. 14th century Oxfordshire crime series. There's 14 books so should keep you going for a while.

Classica · 05/07/2021 19:37

@partylots, Mary Rylance would make make a great Shardlake although I think the fact he's played Cromwell probably rules that out. I thought maybe Toby Jones might work well. But Tom Hardy would make a great Barak! Sexy and brawny and just rough enough around the edges Grin

Original poster
Partylots · 05/07/2021 19:27

@TonTonMacoute yes agree. Tombland is way too long and meandering. The detail of that bloody camp!

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Original poster
Partylots · 05/07/2021 19:26

@Classica ooh yes!!! I’d love a mini series! With Mark Rylance as Shardlake! And Tom Hardy as Barak!! 😍

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Classica · 05/07/2021 15:25

I think they'd make a great mini series though. Would love for Netflix to throw some of its big bucks at a Shardlake adaptation.

Classica · 05/07/2021 15:19

@TonTonMacoute, I agree. Tombland would have been all the stronger if it had 200 fewer pages. The pace just lagged too much at times. Way too much time spent describing every single tiny thing that went on in the camp. I often find though that when a writer has commercial success they seem to think they no longer need the assistance of an editor, and I suspect this is what happened here.

I still look forward to his next instalment, I just hope it's a bit tighter.

TonTonMacoute · 05/07/2021 15:13

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?

Heneage · 03/07/2021 07:56

SG Maclean series also good

Heneage · 03/07/2021 07:55

Karen Maitland series is pretty good

Ulysses · 03/07/2021 07:34

No I haven't but I've noticed that they come up in my Kindle recommendations all the time.

I'm going to add Pillars of the Earth to my reading list.

Original poster
Partylots · 03/07/2021 07:29

Thank you everyone for these!! Building up a little audible waiting list!

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Original poster
Partylots · 03/07/2021 07:28

Has anyone read S.W. Perry series? (Initials again!!)

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moonlight1705 · 02/07/2021 21:37

Two old fashioned books but I still love them are:

Pour the Dark Wine by Dinah Lampitt
Katherine by Anna Seaton

I can't think of many others that have the mystery solving like Sansome and Parris.

Classica · 02/07/2021 21:28

I tried to read an SJ Parris but they don't hold a candle to CJ in my opinion.

Classica · 02/07/2021 21:27

I love Matthew Shardlake, although I think the last couple of books could have done with more rigorous editing.

Andrew Taylor's books as a pp mentioned are very good although not Tudor set.

I picked up a couple in a charity shop recently which both look promising, The King's Witch by Tracy Borman and The Incendium Plot by A.D Swanston (all writers of Tudor fiction clearly got the memo to mimic CJ Sansom's name!)

There's a great crime series by a writer called Abir Mukherjee set during the end of Raj era India. Would recommend.

beyondstresssedandmore · 02/07/2021 21:20

Just going to post the same FayKnights!

FayKnights · 02/07/2021 21:19

I love CJ Sansom but not heard of SJ Parris!
Thanks for the tip 📚

Original poster
Partylots · 02/07/2021 21:16

@noneedtoexpelme

Pillars of the earth - fab.
I read this years ago- agree. Is fab.
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Original poster
Partylots · 02/07/2021 21:15

@WisestIsShe

I lived both of the series you mention, particularly CJ Samson. Would you consider War off the Roses? The Kingmaker series by Toby Clements is also excellent. It has a very strong female character I especially like.
Ooh yes maybe I could get into a bit earlier in history. I don’t know a huge amount about the war of the roses. Although I went to uni in Lancaster and we had an annual Roses sports contest with York.
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Original poster
Partylots · 02/07/2021 21:13

@BillieLurk

There’s only two of them, unfortunately, but the John Dee Papers series by Phil Rickman reminded me quite strongly of the Shardlake books and I really enjoyed them. The first one is The Bones of Avalon.
John Dee pops up in one if the Brunos, doesn’t he!
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Original poster
Partylots · 02/07/2021 21:12

Ooh I’ve not heard of him… will look him up. Ta!

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