Christopher John Sansom, known as C.J. Sansom, was a British writer of historical crime novels, celebrated for his Matthew Shardlake series. Sansom was born on 9 December 1952. He passed away on 27 April 2024.

Sansom pursued his education at the University of Birmingham, earning both a BA and a PhD in history. He initially worked in various roles before retraining as a solicitor. As a lawyer, he advocated for the disadvantaged in Sussex before dedicating himself full-time to writing.

He gained fame with his series set during the reign of Henry VIII in the 16th century, featuring the hunchbacked lawyer Matthew Shardlake. Shardlake works on commission, initially from Thomas Cromwell in Dissolution and Dark Fire, and later from Thomas Cranmer in Sovereign and Revelation.

In addition to the Shardlake series, Sansom wrote the spy novel Winter in Madrid and the alternate history novel Dominion. He received several prestigious awards, including the 2005 Ellis Peters Historical Dagger, the Sidewise Award for Alternate History in 2013, and the Cartier Diamond Dagger in 2022.

A television series, Shardlake, based on Sansom's novel Dissolution, began streaming on Disney+ shortly after his passing.