Crowner Royal
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
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 and thrown into the River Thames, leads John to suspect that there's a conspiracy underway to overthrow King Richard. And with the visit of the dowager Queen Eleanor fast approaching, the new Coroner must risk his life to prove his suspicions are right, root out the traitors within and prevent a national catastrophe.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in 1196, the intriguing 14th entry in Knight's Crowner John series (The Manor of Death, etc.) takes Sir John de Wolfe to Westminster, where Richard the Lionheart has appointed him Coroner of the Verge. One hot summer day, from the window of the coroner's office, one of de Wolfe's officers chances to observe a stabbing by the river below. The assailant flees, while the body of a palace clerk is extracted from the Thames. As de Wolfe investigates, he must assert his authority over the haughty and incompetent London sheriff's department. The victim, the coroner learns, appears to have heard something not meant for his ears while servicing the palace's guest chambers. The murder fuels the king's suspicions that traitors are plotting to overthrow his rule. Straightforward, descriptive prose, spiced with a few period terms, brings 12th-century England to life.
