Product Description

Gilbert de Rideford is a Knight of the Temple of Solomon, and an old acquaintance from Crowner John's crusading days. He claims to have come into possession of a secret that could shake Christendom to its foundations - and he desperately needs John's help to escape from the secretive order of warrior monks. Suddenly swept into a world of religious intrigue and dangerous politics, Crowner John finds himself undertaking a life-threatening mission to the Island of Lundy - inhabited solely by notorious pirates - until finally the awful secret itself is revealed.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #26668 in Books
• Published on: 2004-04-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 356 pages

From the Publisher
INTRIGUE, MURDER AND DECEPTION IN THE 12TH CENTURY
THE AWFUL SECRET is the fourth outing of Bernard Knight's 12th Century coroner, John de Wolfe. Filled with wonderful detail about life and crime at the time of Richard the Lionheart, Bernard Knight also brings to the books his own experience as one of the foremost Home Office Pathologists. In THE AWFUL SECRET, Crowner John finds himself crossing paths with Knights Templar, the pirates of Lundy and a mystery which could rock the certainty of the Medieval World.

About the Author
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. During his 40-year career with the Home Office, he performed over 25,000 autopsies, and was involved in many high profile cases, including that of Fred and Rose West (he examined all twelve bodies that were recovered) and the child killer, Mary Bell. The author of ten novels, a biography and numerous popular and academic non-fiction books, he has written six books in the Crowner John mystrey series.

Customer Reviews

Fourth Book in an Excellent Series
Bernard Knight, or to give him his correct title, Professor Bernard Knight, CBE, was a pathologist to the Home office until 1980 when he was appointed Professor of Forensic Pathology at the University of Wales College of medicine, 1980. He has written the extremely successful Crowner John series of medieval mysteries, of which there are now ten or eleven books, His character Crowner John is certainly among my favourite characters in medieval mysteries.

A Knight of the Temple of Solomon claims to have in his possession a secret that could shake Christendom to its very foundations. It so happens that he is also an old acquaintance of Crowner John (Sir John de Wolfe) from their crusading days together. The Knight's name is Sir Gilbert de Rideford and he is desperate to escape from the secretive order of warrior monks. He prays that Sir John may be able to help him.

Sir John find himself embroiled in a world of religious intrigue, and dangerous politics. Although Sir John's wife is never away from church, as a fighting man Sir John has never had the time or the inclination to become involved in religion and he does not like what he finds. He finally finds himself on a mission to Lundy Island, a place inhabited by pirates, until finally the secret itself is revealed.

disappointing
Having just read all four Crowner John novels back to back, I must say I am disappointed by the lack of development in the characters and the stories. I really want to like Crowner John and his adventures, but I get annoyed by endless repeats of the same information in every book (how he came to be crowner,where his house is, how often he shaves etc.), while other things I desperately want to know about are never explained (Why his mother didn't come to visit when he broke his leg, why his brother is apparently not married and has not provided the estate with an heir etc.etc.)The characters do not progress or develop, but remain sketchy and sometimes little more than charicatures(his wife Mathilda and her maid, the sheriff). Allthough I am very interested in the historical background to these novels, I find reading them is like a dull history lesson with some uninteresting sex and slightly more interesting fighting thrown in, to keep the reader from falling asleep (I'm a woman, but not averse to some nice fighting in a book). When reading the earlier books, I thought there might be more behind Crowner John's disinterest in organised religion and the plot of this novel would have benefitted from a more creative use of the whole Templar mystery/Holy Blood Holy Grail stuff. And why not make more use of the political situation of the absenteist King who is to die within five years of this story taking place and be succeeded by his brother John, so despised by our hero? There are also some irritating continuity errors in the stories: in the first book Thomas the clerk is only hunchbacked but later gets a burdoned with a lame leg as an afterthought it seems, and the hair color of the maid Mary changes from blond to black and back again. To summarize my opinions on this book and the other Crowner John mysteries: It is not enough to display some historical knowledge about Devon, the 12th century, medieval costume and mortal wounds to make an interesting enough read, the best historical detectives have engaging characters who grow through their experiences and make you want to learn different things about them, not more of the same in every book.

Grim but gripping
If you like Brother Cadfael, you probably won't like Crowner John! Cadfael's Shrewsbury may be in an England riven by civil war, but it is essentially so comfortable you could almost - almost! - imagine enjoying a weekend break there. But with its poverty, corruption and judicial brutality (the hangings, mutilations and interrogations are not for the weak-hearted) Bernard Knight's Devon is a place that no sane modern person would want to spend half an hour in. For all that, it throbs with life and the Crowner, his henchmen, his women and his splendidly devious brother-in-law stay on in the imagination. In many ways the four (to date) books' picture of a stern, incorruptible law officer working within a cruel judicial system reminds me of nothing so much as Robert Van Gulik's Judge Dee stories. Highly recommended.