Dissolution author C J Sansom dies, aged 71

Christopher John Sansom, author of the Shardlake series of crime novels, known by the pen name C J Sansom has died, aged 71, on Saturday 27th April.

Dissolution, Sansom’s debut novel, was published by Pan Macmillan 21 years ago. The Disney+ adaptation of the same name, starring Arthur Hughes and Sean Bean, will be released on Wednesday 1st May 2024. Six further novels featuring lawyer Matthew Shardlake followed, as well as two standalone novels, Winter in Madrid and Dominion.

Sansom was awarded the Crime Writers’ Association Cartier Diamond Dagger Award in 2022 for his outstanding contribution to the genre.

Maria Rejt, his long-time editor and publisher, said: “An intensely private person, Chris wished from the very start only to be published quietly and without fanfare. But he always took immense pleasure in the public’s enthusiastic responses to his novels and worked tirelessly on each book, never wanting to disappoint a single reader.

“He was working on his new Shardlake novel, Ratcliff, when he died but his worsening health made progress painfully slow: his meticulous historical research and his writing were always so important to him. I shall miss him hugely, not only as a wonderfully talented writer who gave joy to millions, but as a dear friend of enormous compassion and integrity.”

Lucy Hale, managing director of Pan, added: “We are immensely saddened to hear of Chris’ death: it has been our profound privilege and pleasure to be Chris’ publisher from the very beginning, and Pan Macmillan will continue to celebrate him and introduce many more readers to his extraordinary body of work for many years to come. We are all thinking of his friends at this very difficult time.”

Antony Topping, Sansom’s agent, added: “Chris did not seek the limelight, preferring to be known through his novels, and so in comparison with his fame and reputation relatively few people were lucky enough to know the person behind the work. He had an immense, far-reaching and deeply humane intelligence. His fans can see this in the novels but he applied it equally in his everyday dealings with friends, in his politics and his charitable acts.

“He had a loathing of injustice of any kind and a special contempt for bullies. At the same time he had a joyful and piercing sense of humour which he would spring on you, with an attempt at a straight face, when you were least expecting it. I already cherish the memories of my visits to his house where we would discuss his latest novel-in-progress – but also the latest HBO series, the latest harmful nonsense emanating from the government, the latest geopolitical breezes coming our way from abroad which Chris always analysed with the long and sure eye of a world-class historian – but I think I will remember best the laughter we enjoyed together.”