The Noble Outlaw (Crowner John Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Bernard Knight (Author)

Book Description

Series: Crowner John Mysteries | Publication Date: May 1, 2007

Renovations of a school in 12th-century Exeter are disrupted by the shocking discovery of a partially mummified corpse hidden in the rafters, and the county coroner Sir John de Wolfe is called in to investigate. Richard de Revelle, Sir John's brother-in-law and founder of the school, immediately blames Nicholas de Arundell, a young outlawed knight. As Sir John discovers, Nicholas has good reason to bear a grudge against the unscrupulous de Revelle. With the victim's identity unknown and the motive a mystery, however, the murder remains unsolved. But then comes news of a second violent death, and Sir John is forced to track down the culprit in order to find the answers.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. A serial killer targets respected guildsmen in Knight's gripping 11th Crowner John mystery (after The Elixir of Life), set in 12th-century Exeter. When Matthew Morcok, a former master saddler, is found mummified above a renovated school, the authorities call on Sir John de Wolfe and coroner's clerk Thomas de Peyne to stop what is fast becoming a campaign of terror. Later victims include a master glazier, who's strangled, and a candle maker impaled through the eye. John's work is complicated by the conflict between his shady brother-in-law, Richard de Revelle, and Nick o' the Moor, an outlaw who returned from the Crusades to find his estates expropriated by de Revelle and de Revelle's cronies. John makes an arduous wintertime journey into Dartmoor to meet Nick, who's actually a knight, Nicholas de Arundell. Nick's plight so moves John that he takes the outlaw's case to England's Chief Justiciar for resolution. The author offers a vivid picture of medieval life with fascinating insights into England's fledgling legal system. (Feb.)
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Review

"Brings medieval Exeter to life with gritty realism, smells and all, but with an underlying sympathy and humor."  —Historical Novels Review

"Detection and suspense are combined with historical authenticity."  —Daily Mail

"Packed with the sights, sounds and smells of medieval England, the Crowner John series is a national treasure."  —Birmingham Post

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK (May 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 074329498X
• ISBN-13: 978-0743294980
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,258,675 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just as Good, if not Better than the Others in the Series, May 6, 2007

By 

J. Chippindale (England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Noble Outlaw (Crowner John Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Professor Bernard Knight, CBE, became a Home Office Pathologist in 1965 and was appointed Professor of Forensic Pathology, University of Wales College of Medicine, in 1980. He has now written eleven books in the much read Crowner John series and Bernard Knight is certainly one of my favourite authors among those who write medieval mysteries.

Crowner John or to give him his correct title, Sir John de Wolfe, is one of my all time favourite characters in medieval mysteries and if you read or are going to read this or any other of Bernard Knight's Crowner John Mysteries, you will probably understand why.. Dour and more than a little fierce looking but totally honest and incorruptible and a staunch follower of King Richard the Lionheart. He is the total opposite of his brother-in-law the ex-Sheriff of Exeter, apart from the fact that the both have an eye for the ladies.

The place is Exeter, the year 1195. Renovations are taking place at the new school in Smythen Street, a school funded by Crowner John's brother-in-law and ex-sheriff Richard de Revelle. A partially decomposed body is found in the loft of one of the out-buildings. John as Coroner is called to investigate. When it becomes apparent that the dead man is the missing treasurer of the guild of Cordwainers, de Revelle immediately seeks to put the blame on a young outlaw, a Cornish knight by the name of Nicholas de Arundell whose Devon manor the wily ex-sheriff has appropriated while Arundell was away at the Crusades.

Richard claims that the body has been dumped there in order to discredit his new school. The investigation becomes even more complex when another guild-master is found dead on the road from Tavistock to Exeter. Is Nicholas de Arundell, really responsible for the deaths, or is the ex-sheriff just putting up a smoke screen to confuse Crowner John?

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of The Two Best in the Series, April 25, 2007

By 

P. Schaum "prussblue" (St. Louis area, MO USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Noble Outlaw (Crowner John Mysteries) (Hardcover)

This historical mystery by an excellent multi-talented author made me break a promise and that was to read slower. Here is a man who has known war, been through the hard times of life, been an excellent medical professional for many years, not to mention of bit of farming too, and still finds time to write truly historical pieces and not just emotional figments of the imagination. As long as Knight keeps writing, I will still keep reading. I am glad that M. Jecks writes in the period shortly afterward so that you not only get good mystery writing from both, but good historical sense. Any typos in the books are not the writers fault, but proof readers placing too much on "spell check" (a word may be spelt correctly, but is it the word the author wanted or used?)

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Mystery, Good Period Details, April 16, 2008

By 

A. Lee (L.A., CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Noble Outlaw (Crowner John Mysteries) (Paperback)

Town of Exeter, England, 1195, Sir John de Wolfe, county Coroner (or "Crowner" or Keeper of Pleas of the Crown--in charge of administering the law as far as holding inquests, collecting fees, investigating unnatural deaths and crimes, etc.), is called when a desiccated several-months old corpse is found in a school building that was being renovated. A large nail in the spine reveals the man was murdered. The owner of the school is John's brother-in-law, the border-line traitorous Richard de Revelle, who claims the man was put there to disrupt the success of his school, which he hopes will compete with those becoming established at Oxford and other towns. Suspicion is also cast upon a noble outlaw who roams the wilds of Dartmoor with his followers. With his man, the giant Cornishman Gwyn, John investigates the deaths, as well as the matter of the Outlaw, who seems to be a fellow Crusader who may have been unjustly treated and the nefarious doings of his brother-in-law, who is a follower of Prince John rather than King Richard.

I loved the details of daily life that are carefully depicted in this tale. The characters and the situation felt very true to life and to the period while remaining understandable and likable. John is a dour man, but straight-forward in his desire to do right by his duty. He's got a wife whom he doesn't really get along with and a long-time lover whom he does, and while they feature in the tale, it's so nice that they don't do anything unbelievable like insist on helping with the mystery!

This has been a long-running series, but the first book I've read, and I must say that I found it a good mystery with great insight into the period, which is what I like in a historical mystery.