Books like Sovereign by C. J. Sansom

John Irving’s narrative follows two eleven‑year‑old boys in New Hampshire whose friendship is shattered when a foul ball kills one boy’s mother. The survivor, Owen Meany, believes he is a divine instrument, and the novel traces the impact of that belief on his life and the lives of those around him.

Set in 15th‑century London amid the Reformation, "Dissolution" follows lawyer Matthew Shardlake as he confronts intrigue surrounding the closing of Benedictine monasteries.

Set in 1660s Oxford, Iain Pears’s mystery follows Sarah Blundy as she faces a murder accusation, with the case unfolding through four distinct perspectives that reveal the truth in a surprising twist.

Detective William Monk investigates the murder of arms dealer Daniel Alberton while a romantic entanglement between Alberton’s daughter and the American Lyman Breeland threatens to eclipse the crime.

Mary Russell, a detective and associate of Sherlock Holmes, investigates the murder of an archaeologist after he returns to England with a controversial letter claiming to be from an apostle of Christ.

Private investigator Marcus Didius Falco is sent to Britain to recover stolen imperial gold, where he encounters senator Helena Justina—his love interest whose ties complicate his mission.

In 1546, lawyer Matthew Shardlake is drawn into the deadly politics of Henry VIII’s dying reign, where he must navigate treachery, religious persecution, and a family will dispute while being summoned by Queen Catherine Parr for secret assistance.

A mother grieves her missing son and confronts the town’s haunting after strange sightings, crumpled journal pages, and a tangled folk tale unraveling a deeper mystery.

Maisie Dobbs, a former housemaid turned Cambridge student, serves as a war‑zone nurse during World War I. After the conflict, she begins a career as a private investigator, and her first case unravels a darker secret that forces her to confront the war’s lingering trauma.

When Henry VIII courts Lady Catherine Parr, rebelling reformers plot a purge and a teenage religious fanatic is held in Bedlam – Shardlake must uncover the murders that threaten to tear London apart.

When a prostitute’s mutilated body is found in Buckingham Palace, Thomas Pitt and his maid Gracie race to uncover the killer before the scandal threatens the monarchy.

In summer 1545, England faces a looming French invasion and a war‑torn economy, as Henry VIII’s misadventures strain the nation’s finances and force a massive militia mobilisation at Portsmouth.

Set in the summer of 1549, lawyer Matthew Shardlake investigates the death of a distant relative of Henry VIII's daughter Lady Elizabeth, amidst the chaos of Kett's Rebellion

A compelling thriller and love story set in post–Civil War Spain Fans of Carlos Ruiz Zafon's The Shadow of the Wind and Sebastian Faulks's Birdsong will fall in love with Winter in Madrid, the arresting new novel from C. J. Sansom. In September 1940, the Spanish Civil War is over and Madrid lies in ruins while the Germans continue their march through Europe. Britain stands alone as General Franco considers whether to abandon neutrality and enter the war. Into this uncertain world comes Harry Brett, a privileged young man who was recently traumatized by his experience in Dunkirk and is now a reluctant spy for the British Secret Service. Sent to gain the confidence of Sandy Forsyth, an old school friend turned shadowy Madrid businessman, Brett finds himself involved in a dangerous game and surrounded by memories. Meanwhile, Sandy's girlfriend, ex-Red Cross nurse Barbara Clare, is engaged in a secret mission of her own—to find her former lover Bernie Piper, whose passion for the Communist cause led him into the International Brigades and who vanished on the bloody battlefields of the Jarama. In a vivid and haunting depiction of wartime Spain, Winter in Madrid is an intimate and riveting tale that offers a remarkable sense of history unfolding and the profound impact of impossible choices.

A young London seamstress falls into the world of veteran prostitution amid poverty and danger, navigating misfortunes that put her at the heart of real‑life struggles and crime.

In Tudor England, lawyer Matthew Shardlake is drawn into a murder case and a hunt for the mysterious weapon "Dark Fire" while navigating the politics of Henry VIII’s court.

A Florida attorney investigates a murder after a circus-related legal case goes wrong.

During the Victorian era, Inspector Witherspoon suspects a murder victim’s young housekeeper, but Mrs. Jeffries, the Metropolitan Police’s housekeeper, unravels the true perpetrator amid intrigue and a cold‑blooded crime.

Historic London police thriller as Thomas Pitt confronts a cunning anarchist plot that masks a powerful press‑manipulated crime syndicate, forcing him to ally with former foes and his wife to protect the empire.