I must confess that I have never been a fan of either sci fi writing (unless you count Ian Banks and Neil Gamain as sci fi) in my life nor have I EVER read a mystery novel. However....a friend of mine in London turned me onto C.J. Sansom and I am hooked on mystery now.
His Matthew Shardlake series is phenomenal! He was an attorney who started writing and his debut novel DISSOLUTION got me hooked on the adventures of this 16th century hunchbacked lawyer and his time in the midst of Henry VIII and the intrigues of monasteries, court life and judicial madness...such great fun! The third book in the series is in the photograph and his novel set in the 40's in Spain about a reluctant British spy in Madrid is also featured (it has nothing to do with the Matthew Shardlake series obviously).
He blends the historical accuracies and details that I adore in good historical fiction. Clothing, food, locations, smells, everything is vividly described and sets a tone for complete immersion in the time period, truly stunning research. I applaud him for his enormous skill, I envy him for having not one but TWO enormously successful careers and I hunger for his next efforts! These were great summer reads! Now if I could just find a decent sci fi book.......
:)
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