Author Christopher John Sansom, known as C.J. Sansom has sadly died at the age of 71, just days before a Disney show based on his Shardlake series is due to be released.
The program, Shardlake, is a historical mystery series, set in the 16th century under the royal reign of Henry VIII. The Disney Plus adaption of the series is due to hit screens on May 1, starring movie stars Arthur Hughes and Sean Bean.
Author C.J. Sansom dies days before Disney Plus series release
“It is with immense sadness that Pan Macmillan announces the death of C.J. Sansom,” a statement by his publisher read.
“We are immensely saddened to hear of Chris’s death: it has been our profound privilege and pleasure to be Chris’s publisher from the very beginning,” managing director Lucy Hale added. “Pan Macmillan will continue to celebrate him and introduce many more readers to his extraordinary body of work for many years to come.”
“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,” longtime editor and publisher, Maria Rejt added.
“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.”
“‘It is an extraordinarily strange coincidence that Chris has died only a handful of days before a new generation of fans will meet Matthew Shardlake, Barak and Guy and co,” his agent Antony Topping added. “So long, Chris. I was lucky to know you.”
His first novel, Dissolution, was published 21 years ago, which first introduced fans to lawyer, Matthew Shardlake. Since then, he has written six further novels featuring the characters, and two standalone historical novels.
Sansom previously worked as a solicitor before leaving to become a full-time writer.
Rejt revealed he was working on another Shardlake novel, however his worsening health unfortunately made “progress painfully slow.”
Tributes pour in for the author
As the sad news circulates, fans have taken to X, formerly known as Twitter, to remember the star.
“So sad to learn of the death of the brilliant C. J. Sansom,” wrote one. “It doesn’t seem possible that it was twenty-one years ago that his brilliant lawyer-detective Matthew Shardlake swept into my life. I’ve spent immeasurable blissful hours lost in his works. Rest in power, Chris.”
Another penned: “Such a tragic loss. CJ Sansom was one of the finest ever writers of historical fiction. He was an inspiration to me and to many others. We are poorer without him.”
“He leaves a massive hole. No other writer in crime fiction cared as much about how to represent truth as Chris did. He worked with phenomenal diligence to unearth the facts behind each of his stories,” wrote author William Shaw.
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