Shardlake series Books in Order
Books
3
Published
2001 to 2014
The complete set
Values coming soon
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Reading order
The Shardlake series books in the order to read them, with the year each first appeared.
- 1Dissolution2003
- 2Dark Fire2004
- 3Sovereign2006
- 4Revelation2008
- 5Heartstone2010
- 6Lamentation2014
- 7Tombland2018
Editions we track
| No. | Title | Year | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| – | Dissolution First | 2001 | – |
| – | Dark Fire First | 2001 | – |
| – | Lamentation First | 2014 | – |
About Shardlake series
The Shardlake series is a sequence of seven historical crime novels by C. J. Sansom about Matthew Shardlake, a hunchbacked lawyer in Tudor England. The books were published from 2003 to 2018. Macmillan published the first four, starting with Dissolution (2003, set in 1537), and Mantle published Heartstone, Lamentation and Tombland. The first six novels take place under Henry VIII, while Tombland, set in 1549, follows his death. Sansom died on 27 April 2024, and a television adaptation based on Dissolution, titled Shardlake, began streaming on Disney+ days later.
Frequently asked questions
What order should I read the Shardlake series books in?
Start with Dissolution (2003), then Dark Fire and Sovereign. The full list on this page gives every book in order with its first edition year.
How many Shardlake series books are there?
We list 7 books in the Shardlake series series, from 2003 to 2018.
What is the first Shardlake series book?
Dissolution, first published in 2003, is the first book in the Shardlake series series.
Where these facts come from
- Matthew Shardlake, Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
- C. J. Sansom, Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
Every fact on this page was checked against the sources listed. Checked 19 October 2026.
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