Bernard Knight

When an unidentified body is discovered in the harbour town of Axmouth, twenty miles from Exeter, Sir John de Wolfe, the county coroner is called to investigate. The manner of the young man's death is a matter of some dispute - but, as Sir John soon discovers, it was no accident. The victim did not drown, as the manor reeve alleges, but was strangled to death. In the ensuing murder investigation, Sir John is frustrated by what appears to be a conspiracy...

Coroner Sir John is plunged into the world of the tinners in this entertaining instalment in the Crowner John medieval mystery series, set in twelfth-century England.
1195. When county coroner Sir John de Wolfe is summoned to the bleak Devonshire moors to investigate the murder of a tin miner, he has little idea how difficult this new investigation will prove.
The victim is a well-loved overman of Devon's most successful...

A forensic mystery of the 1950s - After starting their risky venture of a private forensic consultancy, Doctor Richard Pryor – now a Home Office pathologist – and forensic biologist Angela Bray have now become firmly established. An apparent bizarre suicide in a remote Welsh farm starts them on a new investigation, which is followed by an unusual request from the War Office. And when a Cotswold veterinary surgeon is charged with poisoning his...

October, 1195. High-spirited young knights, drunken squires, pickpockets and horse thieves are pouring into Exeter for a one-day jousting tournament. During the tournament there's a serious altercation between Hugo Peverel, and Reginald de Charterai. When, two days later, Sir Hugo's body is found in a barn on his estate, de Charterai would seem the obvious culprit. But there's no shortage of people who wished the hated Hugo dead. All three of his...

With the city of Exeter ravaged by an outbreak of the 'yellow plague', Sir John de Wolfe, the county coroner, must divide his time between visiting his brother William who has been struck down by the disease, and dealing with a series of brutal murders which appears to be linked to a revival of heresy in the city. When some of the cathedral canons begin a crusade against this danger to the Church, Sir John is accused of being too sympathetic to the...

Exeter, 1195. When a prominent burgess and guildmaster falls dead across his horse, Crowner John declines to hold an inquest as the man had been complaining of chest pains and shows no signs of injury. Events take a sinister turn, however, when a straw-doll is discovered hidden under the man's saddle, a spike driven through its heart. The victim's wife declares her husband's death to have been the result of an evil spell, cast at the behest of a rival...

London, 1196. At the command of Richard the Lionheart, Sir John de Wolfe has left his beloved West Country for the Palace of Westminster, where he has been appointed Coroner of the Verge. But with the king overseas, embroiled in a costly war against King Philip of France, Sir John is dismayed to discover that the English court is a hotbed of greed, corruption and petty in-fighting. The murder of one of the palace clerks, stabbed in broad daylight...

In 1955, a forensic pathologist encounters a headless body found in a Welsh bog-with a Batman tattoo on the arm. With a new and thriving private forensic consultancy, Home Office pathologist Doctor Richard Pryor is glad to have his partner, forensic biologist Angela Bray, back from caring for her ill mother. Together, they are able to persuade locum doctor Priscilla Chambers to stay on a few weeks longer. Although Pryor is reluctant to start a relationship...

The women of Exeter are under attack. Only he can protect them. 1194. First the daughter of a rich merchant is raped. Then, just months before her marriage, Lady Adele de Courcy is found dead in one of the poorest areas of the city. The common factor is Godfrey Fitzosbern, the local silversmith. Despite his own suspicions, county coroner Sir John de Wolfe is determined to protect Godfrey from the women's vengeful families. Until, that is, he can...