Help! What next after Lamentation

[HappydaysArehere]

Have read all C,J. Sansom's six Matthew Shardlake's historical crime novels.
Have loved them but half way through the last one "Lamentation". I am dreading finishing this one. What can I find to follow it when the last page has turned? Please, has anyone got a suggestion? I would love it if there were other books just as good out there. Don't fancy Phillipa Gregory - too prone to muck about with history - reminds me of chick lit! Grateful for suggestions to put in place when the last page has turned.

I enjoyed S J Parris's Giordano Bruno series. They are set slightly later in Elizabethan England. Bruno works for the Queen's spy master Sir Francis Walsingham.

Thank you Mermaid. I have made a note and will be taking this to Waterstones. Does he provide lots of information about the times, place etc? Meanwhile, back with Matthew. Will only leave him until his author provides another great story. Thanks again.

I too was addicted to Shardlake as after reading so many books with him as the main character he became a real personality.

However I am now reading Ashes of London by Peter Taylor (murder mystery) set in the time of the great fire.

It is well written and I am enjoying the story but the characters have not gripped me like Shardlake.

I like Rory Clements' John Shakespeare series. Not quite as fab as Shardlake but still very enjoyable.

I think S J Parris does go into a lot of historical detail. Iirc she studied history at University and does seem to have a good grasp of her subject matter. Heresy, the first in the series, sets the scene, based in Oxford. Each novel is in a different city - London, Canterbury, Plymouth etc. And he has a bit more success with women than poor old Matthew! Shardlake can be a bit stuffy at times whereas Bruno is more adventurous.

Hoping there's a new Shardlake novel before foo long. There is a new Bruno but I'm waiting for it to come out in paperback.

Grail Quest series by Bernard Cornwell
The Anatomist's Apprentice by Tessa Harris

I didn't like the Paris ones.

If you don't mind changing the historical period entirely, I recommend Philip Kerr's Bernie Gunther series, which are mostly set in Nazi/post-Nazi Germany. Obviously v different to the Shardlakes, but equally well written and gripping.

Also, I've forgotten the writer but there's a series with one of the books called, 'Mistress of the Art of Death' which are pretty good.

Does it have to take place in England?

Jason Goodwin has a series of books that take place in Istanbul during Ottoman Empire times, with a eunuch called Yashim as the detectve that solves murders in the palace, etc. You get the same understanding of the era, traditions, feelings etc as you do in the Shardlake books. Start with The Janissary Tree.

Eliot Pattison has a series of books that take place in contemporary Tibet under Chinese occupation that starts with a disgraced Chinese detective meeting Tibetan monks in a gaol, learning to be like them, etc. A murder happens and he has to find who did it. Again, you get the same understanding of local history, traditions, etc through the murder mystery. Start with The Skull Mantra.

Yes to The Janissary Tree - yet another of the increasingly large list of fiction that Cote and I both enjoyed!

If you don't mind a slightly earlier period, the Matthew Bartholomew books are a similar vein. I enjoyed Shardlake and liked these too, so they might be up your street? Slightly later (Restoration) and also by the same author are the Thomas Chaloner books.

How about Restoration and its sequel Merivel by Rose Tremain? I loved them.

Thank you so much everyone. I am making a note of all of them. A eunuch detective in Instanbul! Must have a go at that! Also Matthew Bartholomew and his Thomas Chaloner books sound promising. I had forgotten about Rose Tremain. It was the fact that C.J.Sansom is a real historian and depicts such a fascinating world for Shardlake to inhabit.
However, all are on my list. I get a stamp on a Waterstones card every time I spend £10 plus points on a loyalty card so I tend to buy more than one book. (If I only want one I add a birthday card to make it up to £10). You can spend your loyalty points any time and they mount up and I feel I am supporting a real book shop! Thank you ALL again.

Gah! I forgot about the Matthew Bartholomew series!

Which brings me to Ellis Peters, her Brother Cadfael books are fab!

Following...! I have finished Lamentation and hoping that CJ Sansom writes another Shardlake book!