The Crowner John Mysteries are a series of novels by

Bernard Knight Bernard Henry Knight (born 3 May 1931) is a British forensic pathologist and writer. He became a Home Office pathologist in 1965 and was appointed Professor of Forensic Pathology, University of Wales College of Medicine, in 1980. Early life ...

following the fictional life of Sir John de Wolfe, a former Crusading knight appointed to the office of Keeper of the Pleas of the King's Crown (''custos placitorum coronas''), i.e. the King's Crowner or Coroner, for the county of

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

. Crowners were appointed in 1194, during the reign of

Richard the Lionheart Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was overl ...

, in every county to check on the corruption of sheriffs, but also to raise as much money as possible towards the payment of the loans that covered the huge ransom after the king's capture in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

on his return from the

Third Crusade The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt by three European monarchs of Western Christianity (Philip II of France, Richard I of England and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor) to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by ...

. As Crowner, Sir John has to investigate all sudden deaths, murders, rapes, assaults, fires, wrecks and catches of royal fish, as well as trying to drive as much custom (through fines and taking of property owned by convicted criminals) as possible into the royal treasury, instead of the old manor and shire courts. We learn that Sir John has a large area to administer – there are supposed to be three crowners for Devon but he is the only one. In all this, he is assisted by Gwyn, his old Cornish retainer and Thomas de Peyne, an unfrocked priest, who is his clerk. John's surly social-climbing wife Matilda is the sister of the sheriff of Exeter, Sir Richard de Revelle, who does all he can to make life difficult for John, who seeks solace in the arms of his Welsh mistress Nesta, the landlady of the Bush Inn in the city. In ''Crowner Royal'', set in 1196, John is appointed the first Coroner of the Verge by the king. He returns to Exeter in late 1196 in the next novel, ''A Plague of Heretics''. Apart from John, most of the main characters actually existed in history and every care is taken with research and the creation of atmosphere to offer an authentic picture of twelfth-century

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Most of the places described in the stories can be visited by readers today, even the gatehouse of

Rougemont Castle Rougemont Castle, also known as Exeter Castle, is the historic castle of the city of Exeter, Devon, England. It was built into the northern corner of the Roman city walls starting in or shortly after the year 1068, following Exeter's rebellion ...

in Exeter, where John had his office.

Novels in the Crowner John Series

# '' The Sanctuary Seeker'' (1998), set in November 1194 # '' The Poisoned Chalice'' (1998), set in December 1194 # '' Crowner's Quest'' (1999), set in Christmas 1194 # ''

The Awful Secret ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

'' (2000), set in March 1195 # '' The Tinner's Corpse'' (2001), set in April 1195 # ''

The Grim Reaper Death is frequently imagined as a personified force. In some mythologies, a character known as the Grim Reaper (usually depicted as a berobed skeleton wielding a scythe) causes the victim's death by coming to collect that person's soul. Other ...

'' (2002), set in May 1195 # ''

Fear In The Forest Fear is an intensely unpleasant emotion in response to perceiving or recognizing a danger or threat. Fear causes physiological changes that may produce behavioral reactions such as mounting an aggressive response or fleeing the threat. Fear i ...

'' (2003), set in June 1195 # '' The Witch Hunter'' (2004), set in August 1195 # '' Figure of Hate'' (2005), set in October 1195 # ''

The Elixir of Death ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

'' (2006), set in November 1195 # ''

The Noble Outlaw ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

'' (2007), set in December 1195 # '' The Manor of Death'' (2008), set in April 1196 # '' Crowner Royal'' (2009), set in Summer 1196 # ''

A Plague of Heretics A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...

'' (2010), set in November 1196 # '' Crowner's Crusade'' (2012), actually a prequel to the series, taking place chronologically before ''The Sanctuary Seeker''

Short stories featuring Crowner John

Crowner John appears in a series of books formed of linked stories written by Philip Gooden, Susanna Gregory, Michael Jecks, Bernard Knight and

Ian Morson Ian or Iain is a name of Scottish Gaelic origin, derived from the Hebrew given name (Yohanan, ') and corresponding to the English name John. The spelling Ian is an Anglicization of the Scottish Gaelic forename ''Iain''. It is a popular name in Sc ...

under the common pseudonym of the Medieval Murderers: * ''The Tainted Relic'' (2005) * ''Sword of Shame'' (2006) * ''House of Shadows'' (2007) * ''The Lost Prophecies'' (2008)

References

* Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2009 * "Crowner Royal", ''Publishers Weekly'', 24 August 2009.

External links

Fantastic Fiction: Bernard Knight

Professor Knight's Crowner John: Ann Lynn reviews the first six books, 31 May 2002
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crowner John Mysteries Historical novels by series Mystery novels by series Historical mystery novels Novel series Novels set in Exeter Novels by Bernard Knight British novels by series