Another Crowner John mystery. Rich historical story about the Church and State. There is a priest killing people according to biblical quotes. ( )

#6 book in the Crowner John medieval mystery series, set in 1195 Exeter, UK. The king’s judges are coming to town for the Eyre and Assizes to handle judgments on all the various civil and criminal cases that had been building up since their last visit. Just in time for the festivities, Crowner John has a serial murderer on his hands—someone who is killing people deemed to have sinned against God by the murderer, and worse yet, he suspects that the killer is a priest or cleric, as there is a written note next to the bodies with a quotation from the Vulgate with regard to each person’s particular sin. (The Vulgate was what the Bible of the time was called.) So few people outside the clergy could read and write—and even fewer would know the Bible well enough to quote it—not even many parish priests, so that narrowed down the suspects even more. Crowner John is dismayed when his clerk, Thomas, who is himself a defrocked priest, is put under suspicion by his brother in law the Sheriff, and aside from his goal of solving the crimes before the judges arrive, the grumpy coroner hopes he can clear Thomas’s name as well. Very engaging mystery—I hadn’t guessed who the killer was til the end of the book, though I probably *should* have, because I smacked my head with a “Doh!” when I realized the clues were there for me to find. Interesting trek back to medieval times with the Crowner and his cronies. His extreme grumpiness wasn’t quite so prevalent in this book, or at least I didn’t notice it so much which made it more enjoyable too. ( )

A general review of this series:

This is back in the good old days of law enforcement, when trial by combat was definitive and would-be plea bargainers had to fight their accomplice(s) to the death.

I find these books fascinating as living history, perhaps even more than as mysteries. Knight always starts off with a glossary of terms. The period is not romanticized, but neither is it overly repulsive.

Sir John de Wolfe went crusading with Richard the Lionheart. Now back in England, he has been appointed to the newly reconstituted office of Crowner (Coroner). He fights a pitched battle with his corrupt, treacherous brother-in-law, the Sheriff, over official territory. He is very unhappily married to Mathilda, his incompatible wife; their relationship makes sleeping in peasant huts while on duty a treat. One of the things that makes it interesting, is that although Sir John is the central character, and presumably to be regarded with sympathy, his marital problems are not entirely blamed upon his wife.

John is assisted in his duties by his gigantic man of arms, and his clerk, a frail, defrocked priest. ( )