Sansom also enjoyed success with two standalone historical novels, Winter in Madrid and Dominion.

He won several awards for his historical crime writing, most recently picking up the prestigious Crime Writers’ Association Cartier Diamond Dagger Award for his outstanding contribution to the genre.

Rejt described her late colleague as "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... 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.’

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