By C. J. Sansom

A new supersleuth! Well, a sixteenth-century supersleuth, but a damned good one.

The premise is a good one, and I wonder why I’ve not come across it before. There are crime thrillers, there are history books, but are there crime thrillers set way back in history? None that I’ve ever crossed before, but this is what happens in this series.

As it happens, Sovereign is the third in the series about Matthew Shardlake, a lawyer living at the time of Henry VIII. I picked it up because I liked the cover of the hardback, paper made to look like old parchment. I took it out of the shop because of the mention “Magnificent novels … bring to life the sounds of Tudor England” and the fact that it was on offer as 2 for £5

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By Bernard Cornwell

The fourth book in the series about Uhtred of Bebbanburg, sworn to serve King Alfred of Wessex, in spite of the fact that he himself was brought up by Danes and believes in the Norse gods.

He’s already saved Alfred and his kingdom at numerous turns, but still has that awkward relationship with his lord king, born of having to swear an oath to serve he whom he doesn’t wish to.

This book is the standard fare for the series. Saxons and Danes share what will become Englalond, warlords proliferate, and battles and usurption are frequent happenings and events.

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