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Author

Bernard Knight

31 fiction

Bernard Knight is a British author, physician and forensic pathologist whose professional experience has strongly influenced his crime fiction. After serving as a medical officer in the Royal Army Medical Corps, he became a Home Office pathologist in 1965 and was appointed Professor of Forensic Pathology at the University of Wales College of Medicine in 1980. Alongside academic textbooks and popular works on forensic medicine, Knight has written contemporary crime novels, radio and television scripts, and historical mysteries.

Knight is best known for the Crowner John Mysteries, set in Devon during the reign of Richard I. Beginning with The Sanctuary Seeker, the series follows Sir John de Wolfe, a former crusader appointed coroner for the county, as he investigates suspicious deaths with his clerk Thomas de Peyne and officer Gwyn of Polruan. Novels including The Poisoned Chalice, Crowner’s Quest, The Awful Secret, The Tinner’s Corpse, Crowner Royal and A Plague of Heretics combine murder investigations with medieval law, medicine, religion and political conflict. His forensic expertise gives the series particular authority in its treatment of wounds, bodies and early methods of determining how a person died.

Periods and events

Angevin Empire Medieval Heresy and Inquisition Post-war Britain Third Crusade Captivity and Ransom of Richard I Military Orders Early Medieval Norse Exploration of the North Atlantic Arthurian Britain Medieval Wales Reign of Henry I and Anglo-Norman England Welsh Marches after the Norman Conquest Black Death Anglo-Saxon England

Historical fiction

Historical fiction series by Bernard Knight (3 series)

Crowner John Mysteries in Order

by Bernard Knight 15 books 4.3

The Crowner John Mysteries follow Sir John de Wolfe, a former crusader appointed county coroner for Devon during the reign of Richard I. Working from Exeter with his officer Gwyn and clerk Thomas, John investigates suspicious deaths through inquests, witness testimony and the limited forensic methods available at…

Crowner’s Crusade

4.3

The Sanctuary Seeker

4.0

The Poisoned Chalice

4.2

Crowner’s Quest

4.5

The Awful Secret

4.3

The Tinner’s Corpse

4.2

The Grim Reaper

4.5

Fear in the Forest

4.4

The Witch Hunter

4.5

Figure of Hate

4.4

The Elixir of Death

4.5

The Noble Outlaw

4.5

The Manor of Death

4.4

Crowner Royal

4.5

A Plague of Heretics

4.5

Richard Pryor Mysteries in Order

by Bernard Knight 3 books 4.2

The Richard Pryor Mysteries are set in 1950s Britain and follow forensic pathologist Richard Pryor after he leaves colonial service and establishes a private laboratory in the Wye Valley. He works with biologist Angela Bray and physician Priscilla Chambers on deaths that require scientific evidence rather than conventional…

Where Death Delights

4.2

According to the Evidence

4.4

Grounds for Appeal

4.1

Medieval Murderers in Order

by various authors 10 books 3.9

The Medieval Murderers books are collaborative historical-mystery anthologies in which a shared relic, manuscript, legend, place or moral theme links separate crimes across centuries. Each contributor writes an episode using characters from an established series or a new historical setting, so the central object accumulates competing meanings as…