The Crowner John mysteries by Bernard Knight
The reason for my prolonged silence on this page is that I
have been reading my way through a boxed set of stories about a character
called Crowner John, or John de Wolfe, by Bernard Knight. The author used to be
a Home Office pathologist and has written at least ten books in this series. The
stories begin in 1194 when John is appointed the first coroner for the county
of Devon by decree of Richard the Lionheart, King of England at that time.
There are frequent references in the books to Richard’s brother, John, Count of
Mortain, who makes continued plans to take over from Richard who is permanently
abroad fighting in the Crusades. The position of coroner is a new one, mainly
to add fines and charges to Richard’s coffers to help with the fighting, but
John determines to take his responsibilities seriously.
John was persuaded into a loveless marriage with Matilda de
Revelle some years before, largely
because both sets of parents though that it would be a good match, but it has
turned out to be fruitless one with no children. Matilda’s brother, Richard, is
the bane of John’s life as he is the sheriff for Exeter where much of the
action is based. Other characters that appear in each book are: Gwyn, John’s Cornish
and uncouth man at arms; Thomas, an unjustly defrocked priest and clerk to
John; Nesta, an Exeter ale-wife and John’s mistress; John de Alencon, a local
bishop and various officials who help run the day to day workings of Exeter
Castle.
The duties of the coroner are to investigate suspicious
deaths or attempted murders, rapes, treasure trove and the washing up on the
beaches of large fish which also belong to the king as of right. In all the
books a useful glossary of medieval terms is included together with a map of
Exeter showing John’s house, the castle, other churches, various inns etc
I would say that the first ten books follow the course of a
year or so in the life of the coroner, each story occupying around a month at
most. Although John is based in Exeter some of the mysteries involve travel
through the county of Devon and occasionally further afield, to Winchester, for
example. The books are quite readable and, though no previous knowledge of
medieval times is required as all is explained along the way, the reader is
quite likely to have acquired some familiarity with the medieval world by the
time they have finished the series.
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