#9 Crowner John historical mystery set in 1190's Devon. Lots of upheavals in the Crowner's life as the new Sheriff, who displaced his treacherous brother-in-law, begins dispensing the law. While honest, he's rather plodding and lazy and tends to let John handle most things. John's wife Matilda, an extremely socially conscious woman concerned with the neighbors' opinions and her diminishing status, seems to have developed a drinking problem after the fall of her brother from the highly lucrative Sheriff's position. And it's tournament season--jousting and melee are just beginning to gain popularity, and John is asked to referee at a joust to be held during the Exeter fair, given his battle experience as a knight of the realm. One of the knights, a local manor lord, behaves very badly after losing his joust (which meant losing his horse, armor and often a good chunk of money to the winning knight) and John publicly chastises him for his unchivalrous behavior. The coroner later meets up with Hugo Peverel a second time when he's found stabbed several times in the back in one of his barns on the manor. Soon his death is tied to two other previous deaths and the Crowner must figure out which of the man's friends or family killed the odious man--not an easy task with a wealth of suspects at hand, and it's further complicated when his brother-in-law Richard, a friend and neighbor of the family, throws in his support for them. I like this series a lot; the books seem to be well-researched and the author always has some interesting notes to read, too. Despite John's crabbiness, I like him and his secondary characters. The one thing that bothers me (and I know I've mentioned this before) is the constant use of the same verbs, often "animal sounds" attributed to the characters as they're speaking. For example, the Crowner, who is a rather gruff, curmudgeonly fellow, often snaps, growls or barks. His dandified brother-in-law frequently brays. If it wasn't for this, I would tend to rate the books higher, but at times it happens very frequently and is distracting enough to pull me right out of the story. I still look forward to the next one, though.
Wow. I may need to add Knight to my List Authors. At first I was afraid this was following the Ellis Peters or Edward Marston track a little too closely, but as it turns out the main character is one of the first coroners in England at the end of the 12th century. Obviously, over the centuries, the job of the coroner has changed a lot. The job of the "crowner" in the Middle Ages was purely overseeing inquests into untimely deaths, and appearing at hangings and other punishments of wrongdoers.John De Wolfe is hardly a likeable character--he is a serial adulterer, a man baffled by humor, and quick to anger--but somehow Knight makes you want him solve the murders of a silversmith, a manor lord, and a young teenager from the same manor. In the event, he also manages to ride out on a "melee" and participate in a duel, while also sending his unbeloved and drunken wife off to France so he can devote himself to his current mistress.Great characters, complicated situations and a good puzzle...PLUS history! Can't beat that.
