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is May of 1195, and Coroner John de Wolfe, the 'Crowner', is
summoned one morning to investigate the death of Aaron of Salisbury,
a Jewish moneylender, who has been found with his head stuffed into
a leather money-bag. In his hand there's a scrap of parchment, with
writing which is deciphered as being a quotation from the Gospel of
St Mark, telling of how Jesus went into the temple to overthrow the
money-lenders. But this is not a single murder. Soon a series of
strange murders occurs, and at each is another piece of parchment
with another biblical reference. In a place where fewer than one in
ten of the people can read or write, it is clear that the murderer
is probably a priest. But in Exeter there must be at least a hundred
clerics. How can the Crowner find a killer among so many? And when
will the killings cease? Matters are not eased by the arrival of the
King's Justices, because the man who should investigate the murders,
Sheriff Sir Richard de Revelle, fears that the justices will spot
how he has been corruptly taking a cut of the county's finances.
He's obsessed with covering his tracks and can't be bothered with a
murder or two when he's protecting his own neck. Sir John must find
the murderer alone, which is not helped by his wife Matilda's
shrewish nature. She wants to support his advancement, but she is
constantly reminded of his failings. At least the arrival of the
Justices gives her a chance to show off and flaunt her best dresses,
but that is little compensation for her husband's lack of ambition -
and philandering with a local alewife. Bernard Knight writes
extremely well. The folk who people his stories are likeable and
understandable, with all their failings and foibles. Even the most
unpleasant characters somehow win your sympathy, perhaps partly due
to the loving detail which Bernard gives us about the city and its
dubious levels of hygiene! An excellent read and I look forward to
the next. |
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