The Tinner's Corpse

Crowner John Mystery #5

by Bernard Knight

When Crowner John 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 to be. The victim is a trusted and well-loved overman of Devon's most powerful and successful mine owner, Walter Knapman. There seems to be only one possible motive - to sabotage Walter's business. But the tinners have their own laws, and they are none too pleased at Crowner John's interference. Especially as their main experience of officials has been with Sheriff Richard de Revelle, whose notoriously high taxes keep them in a permanent state of fury and near rebellion. And then Walter disappears. Stephen Acland, Walter's business rival wastes no time in comforting Walter's beautiful wife Joan, who appears remarkably unmoved by her husband's disappearance. Meanwhile, Walter's brother is going frantic with worry ... or could it be guilt? A decapitated body, a missing tinner, a disgruntled band of miners and a mad Saxon, intent on the destruction of all things Norman. How on earth can Crowner John sort all this out when his wife hates him, his mistress has spurned him for a younger man, and his clerk is in the grip of a suicidal depression? Only Gwyn, Crowner John's indispensable right-hand man seems to be of any help at all, until he is arrested for murder and put on trial for his life.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery, Fiction, Medieval, Crime, Historical Mystery, Historical

352 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2001

About the author

Aka Bernard Picton.

Professor Bernard Knight, CBE, (born 1931) became a Home Office pathologist in 1965 and was appointed Professor of Forensic Pathology, University of Wales College of Medicine, in 1980. He has been writing since before 1963, when his first crime novel was published. Since then, he has written about thirty books, including contemporary crime fiction, historical novels about Wales, biography, non-fiction popular works on forensic medicine, twelve medico-legal textbooks and the Crowner John Mysteries series of 12th-century historical mysteries.

In addition, he has written scripts for radio and television dramas and documentaries, including the forensic series The Expert starring Marius Goring, in the 1970s. He has contributed to many other textbooks and has edited several medical journals - he was Managing Editor of Elsevier's Forensic Science International, the leading international publication in the field.

Currently, he is a founder member of The Medieval Murderers, a select group of historical crime-writers within the Crime Writers' Association, who give presentations at literary festivals, libraries and bookshops, to promote their work amongst the public. He is also one of the non-fiction judges for the annual 'Dagger' Awards of the Crime Writers' Association and a regular reviewer of crime books for the Internet site Tangled Web.

He was born and lives in Cardiff and as well as being a doctor, he qualified as a barrister and was awarded the CBE in 1993 for services to forensic medicine. In the 1950s, he served as a Regular Army medical officer in Malaya during the terrorist campaign, in a military hospital which he compares with 'MASH'.

-Wikipedia

Reviews

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crowner John is my favorite series ( 2 others very close) and my all time "Comfort read". What is a comfort read? Well I know the characters, who have depth, the history is excellent and period details work very well for me as well as being a favorite era.

What to do now? Well I missed one in the series so must get that one. If you haven't explored Bernard's Knight's writing, I feel that you should!

[Sharon Chase · Rating 2 out of 5]

A murder mystery set in 1194 England. Some of the period details are interesting, but the protagonist is thoroughly unlikable, a philandering self righteous curmudgeon. Other characters include his shrewish wife, crooked brother-in-law, and a cheating tin merchant. This reader will not be spending any more time with this crew. And to top it all off the murder is not solved, at least not by this books' end. I miss Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael.

[Pat K · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up.
I wanted to find more medieval mysteries after i completed the Mathew Cordwainer Mysteries.
I bought this audiobook because it’s also a coroner story set in the same period.
The writing, the story and the narrator were good, but the character of Crowner John is awful. I disliked the character so much that I’m not sure if ill continue with the series.

[Dan DeValk]

I thoroughly enjoy this series by Bernard Knight. I love the vocabulary and the imagery he uses. That period in our history describe the nascent stages of a civil, law-abiding society. I appreciate the research Knight has done to provide descriptions of daily life of that period.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as predictable as I feared. Knight presents a fairly believable, flawed character but like most authors in this genre I was not convinced I was really in the Middle Ages. There are some old chestnuts: the people we are supposed to like all side with King Richard and those we are meant not to like favour his younger brother, Prince John. Thankfully neither of those august persons made an appearance. The protagonist, like many an over-busy person, lacks the insight to examine his own motives and there are several moments when he shows himself to be less than fully honourable (although the love-life subplot doesn't quite work). As so often with books of this type I came away feeling that with more work, and more length, it could be a truly great novel, but it kept me entertained and avoided some of the more tiresome pitfalls, in particular by leaving a good many loose ends untied. Better than many but not the best.

[Ricardo Lopes Moura · Rating 2 out of 5]

Uma mão cheia de muito pouca coisa. Este livro, e imagino que os demais da série do Crowner John, é uma historieta banal passada na Inglaterra da idade média, com meia dúzia de peripécias a passar por enredo, baseando-se numa história policial para a qual o detective praticamente não contribui nada. Não há grandes deduções, grandes intrigas nem uma investigação per se. O protagonista tem como missão representar a Coroa sempre que um crime brutal ocorre e registar os factos e é isso o que faz. O resto vai-lhe caindo no regaço, sem esforço ou propósito.
A escrita é fácil e lê-se bem, mas aquilo que se lê não amonta a muito. Uma desilusão.

[Wayne Farmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoying these Crowner John novels as having just visited many of the places mentioned, such as Dartmeet in Devon with its Clapper Bridge, I can picture them easily and it adds a certain something to the realism of the story. My only disappointment was that we didn't find out who did it all in the end and while i didn't mind John not finding out, I would have quite liked to have known as the reader. I wonder if something will happen in a future novel to bring things to light.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A headless corpse is found which plunges Crowner John into the world of the tinners. Then one of the tin masters goes missing and turns up dead so he has to investigate that as well. Throw in the usual problems with his wife and mistress plus a little extra strife with Thomas and Gwyn and you have the usual plot for a book in this series. Very enjoyable and easy to read.

[Charlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

First Bernard Knight of the year an I've only ever read 1 of his books before some years ago, and then saw this on the shelf in an antiques mall an snapped it up. Absolutely love his mix of medievil england, early coroner methodology and character profiles. Great great read, entertaining and full of interesting historical knowledge. An easy 4 stars.

[Bettie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Betties Books

[henrys-axe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sometimes, even in an excellent series, there might just be one that doesn't work. This is one of those unfortunates. Turning the pages became a laborious chore as I was hoping for a change of tempo. It never happened.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, the stories get better & better. Plenty of historical fact, mystery & suspense, + a look into how the people lived in that era, romance, violence, passion it contains it all.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very easy going romp around parts of Devon in the 12th century.

[kami · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice that it wasn't all wrapped up with a nice little bow at the end.


978-1-847-39-998-4

[Nicola Cartlidge · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very, very boring

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm angry; that's all I'm going to say, or this would have to be tagged a spoiler.

[Georgia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a hard time getting into this one, but after about 5 chapters, couldn't put it down. Poor John. He doesn't seem to have any luck with women. Maybe his wife will go into the convent.

[Scotty · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great series, but this entry was pretty boring. Too much focus on mining in the Middle Ages, which I'm sure interests some people but not me!

[Janey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read - well written story and good characters.

[Janelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

[Socrate · Rating 3 out of 5]

În acea zi de primăvară timpurie, după ce înserarea s-a așternut binișor, lucrătorii și-au pus uneltele deoparte și au pornit fiecare spre casa lui. Munceau într-un loc aflat în partea de răsărit a ținutului Dartmoor, astfel că, în loc să înnopteze în colibele primitive presărate peste tot pe dealurile sterpe, în mai puțin de o oră puteau ajunge la căsuțele lor din jurul orășelului Chagford. Osteniți, doar unsprezece dintre cei doisprezece au coborât valea micuță, dornici să-și revadă nevestele și să li se aștearnă dinainte o cină caldă. Ca de obicei, șeful lor de echipă a rămas pe loc, pentru a râcâi și ultimele resturi prețioase de minereu de cositor din jgheaburile de lemn și a le adăuga apoi la mormanul deja strâns. A doua zi, acesta avea să fie dus la cuptor pentru prima topire.

Ceilalți s-au îndepărtat în josul văioagei presărate de pietre, urmând râul care bolborosea printre bolovani mari, acoperiți de mușchi, șerpuind pe sub copaci piperniciți, cu ramurile contorsionate, care stăteau plecați, parcă ferindu-se din calea vânturilor ce șuierau de-a lungul și de-a latul landei pustii. Deși erau căliți, căutătorii de minereu obosiseră după îndelungata zi de trudă și nu mai aveau chef să sporovăiască în drum spre casă. Înalte până la mijlocul pulpei și date cu grăsime, cizmele lor din piele netăbăcită de vită nu erau totuși impermeabile, astfel că, după ce stătuseră în apa râului mai toată ziua, oamenii își simțeau umede și reci labele picioarelor. Mormăiseră, rând pe rând, câte un rămas-bun către șeful de echipă pe care îl lăsau pe șantier, apoi, după câteva minute, dispăruseră după cotul îngustului făgaș pe care râul South Teign cobora în goană pentru a se alătura perechii lui de la miazănoapte la podul Leigh. După câteva unduiri, pe măsură ce râul lăsa Thornworthy Down în urmă și panta se mai îndulcea, valea se lărgea, oferind în depărtare priveliștea câmpurilor și a pădurilor în mijlocul cărora stătea cuibărit orășelul Chagford.

Rămas singur, cu un aer mulțumit, Henry din Tunnaford a măsurat din ochi porțiunea de râu răscolită peste zi și, fără să se zorească, s-a apucat să facă ordine, pregătind lucrurile pentru săpăturile din ziua următoare. A scos scândura scurtă ce slujea ca stăvilar în partea de sus a jgheabului principal, îngăduind apei curate din canal să se scurgă în cursul nopții prin întregul sistem încropit de lucrători. Henry era un bărbat prea musculos, nici înalt, nici scund și lat în umeri, dar rezistent și puternic, la fel ca majoritatea minerilor cositorari. A luat de jos o cazma și un târnăcop și le-a dus în magazia improvizată, ridicată pe malul înalt și abrupt dintr-o latură a șantierului de lucru. Era o structură dizgrațioasă, construită din pietre și cu acoperiș improvizat din crăci de copaci și bucăți de pământ înierbat. Coliba slujea atât ca depozit, cât și ca adăpost pentru lucrători, unde aceștia își puteau mânca prânzul sărăcăcios – asta, când ploua ori ningea mai abundent decât de obicei.

Acum, Henry stătea în pragul intrării cu mâinile în șolduri și se uita la adânciturile săpate de apă, ce se întindeau pe mai bine de o sută de metri, care scobiseră binișor malurile văii în ultimul an, de când lucrau pe acea porțiune a râului. Vremea se arătase destul de uscată în ultimele zile, însă la capătul dinspre amonte al lucrărilor exista încă destulă apă, care se rostogolea peste o ieșitură și cădea într-o cascadă. O parte din apă era îndepărtată printr-o rigolă, un canal format din scânduri ce ducea spre jgheabul lung care se întindea în imediata apropiere, de-a lungul râului gâlgâitor.

[Katy · Rating 4 out of 5]

NoIn this fifth book of the series, Bernard Knight seems fully in his stride. His characters have become more rounded, whether through strife, adversity, or attempted suicide - something considered a mortal sin in those days - and the reader is drawn more fully into their lives, and thoughts, to either know and love, or know and loathe, them, depending on how they perseve them.

If I'm honest with myself, I constantly find myself feeling both - and all at the same time, depending on just how I can tolerate both the mores of those times, and how much I can grit my teeth over the sheer ignorance of them all, especially where women are concerned - but I can only blame that on being brought up in these modern times by a strong mother, who taught her girls that we can do virtually anything a man can! Lol

But, retuning to the book, Crowner John, as usual, is up to his neck with headless dead bodies, arguing tin miners, scolding women, and mysterious goings on where the murders he is investigating are concerned.

With pathology still basically in the dark ages, he's having a job to find answers to the many questions he has, to do with both those murders, and, rare for those times, trying to find the motives behind them both - and, as usual, he has to cope with the interference of his brother-in-law, Sheriff Richard de Revelle, in it all.

Not only is Richard causing him his usual grief but, as the Lord Warden of the Tin Miners, the Sheriff is also trying to keep John from investigating the murders of the two dead miners and, at the same time, trying to prevent John from looking more closely at the money involved, that he has skimmed off of the pricing of tin.

To make matters worse, John also has to deal with the fallback caused by the interim second Coroner, Theobald Fitz-Ivo, a drunkard, with no knowledge of the job, nor instincts as to how it should be dealt with. A man foisted on John by Richard, and his wife, Mildred.

Soon, there are even more problems for John to solve - one of them being the new pot man, taken on at the Bush, owned and run by his Welsh mistress, Nesta, who has suddenly got too busy to see him.

In this mix of madness and mayhem, John has to look deeply inside himself, to see if this job isn't as too much for him, as Mildred constantly complains about.

I enjoyed this book, but also found it - not slow, but almost too full of detail - something rare for me. The ending also bothered me, though it shouldn't have, as it showed a reality often missed in books of this kind, in that not every murder is ever solved.

I look forward to book six, though: The Grim Reaper!

[Bernard Wood · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is not only the first book I've read in the Crowner John Mystery series but also the first Bernard Knight book I've read. The research and information regarding the tin industry in 12th Century Devonshire, as well as the politics surrounding the new administrative and legal position of coroner, was extremely well done and informative. Novels can be a great way to assimilate otherwise dry historical information, as long as the research is good and poetic license doesn't intrude too much. Overall in this regard I feel I learnt a lot about the era.
However I found the main protagonist to be too flawed for me to warm to him or to ever want to revisit him. He is a humourless womaniser whose only real qualifications for his role as coroner is that he's seen so many dead bodies during his soldiering that he can make a good guess as to the cause and method of any demise. His saving graces are a sense of duty, a modicum of courage and that he is the least venal of the whole collection of characters (bar his clerk who is concerned with nothing else except religious self-pity). The mystery itself was unresolved and finished not in a mysteriously fitting way but in a way that left me with an annoying feeling of, as a reader, having pointlessly followed a series of plot convolutions only to have my anticipation and reading of events and clues dashed.
Perhaps the murder is resolved in a future book of this series? But this does not excuse it because mysteries should be stand-alone and not open-ended or dependent on the reader forging on with another book in the hope of some sort of denouement to it. Despite it being well-written and informative, the characters and plotting of this book have discouraged me from ever picking up another of this series or even another Bernard Knight book.

[Veronica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve enjoyed the Crowner John series and this is the best so far! In my opinion, anyway. Bernard Knight really brings that era to life for me. (1190’s) I know the Exeter area well, so it’s especially interesting for me.
Crowner John has to investigate the beheading of a tin mine worker, plus the murder of the tin mine owner, plus the attempted murder of his wife, who is set to inherit the tin mine. There are several suspects - the brother of the tin mine owner, the stepson, and a rival tin mine owner, also suspected of having an affair with the tin miners wife. The murderer was never identified, despite the best efforts of Crowner John and his team - Gwynn, a burly Welshman who is the crowners officer and Thomas, a defrocked priest, who keeps a written record of all investigations and trials, as neither Crowner John or Gwynn can read or write.
Add to this, John’s grumpy miserable wife, who always gives him grief about the hours he’s away from home and Nesta, the owner of a nearby Inn, who until now, had been John’s mistress, which his wife Matilda knows about. Much to John’s dismay, Nesta has taken up with one of her assistants, which he is struggling to deal with, and you have an excellent historical novel cum murder mystery cum personal life saga.
The detail of life in that era is incredible. I’m looking forward to reading Book 6.

[Bruce Hamilton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tinners

A headless body is discovered by a group of tinners. He was their head man. Later the owner of the tin works is murdered. The tinners have their own laws and do not respect the king's laws. Was a wild Saxon responsible for both murders? Gwyn is injured defending a suspect and the charged with murder. Meets may have a new love and pushes a John away. Read the book and find out. I enjoyed it.

[Mrs Rosemary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read

This series is excellent with quality story-telling, well-rounded characters and also an interesting look at the Law in the 12th century. I just love reading about Crowner John’s awful wife and the equally awful sheriff/brother-in-law, hoping that one day they both get their come-uppance. Recommended.

[Joan]

Interesting premise about two murders in tin mining territory but Crowner John really comes across as stupid womanizer whose morals aren't much better than his despised brother-in-law's.

[R Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the main character and the historical adventures of solving a murder. A great story.

[Nance Roepke · Rating 3 out of 5]

just okay.

[Page · Rating 3 out of 5]

John seems very real. He's deeply flawed, especially when it comes to his relationship with women. Is that simply a sign of the times or a moral lack in him? The mystery was unsatisfactory. It started off with a headless corpse and ended with a question mark. What I wish mostly is that the author would stop describing every female character as delectable, lovely, shapely, ect... Its offputting.