Fear In The Forest by
Bernard Knight
pbk out September 03
(Pocket Books)
at £6.99
Sir John de Wolfe, a man of experience in war, has fought in several campaigns in Ireland and France and at the side of his King, Richard the Lionheart, in the Third Crusade. But now his life has a different purpose. For the King has appointed Sir John coroner of the county of Devon. .
This is the seventh in the very popular series of Crowner John Mysteries and so many readers will already be familiar with this well known character created by Professor Bernard Knight.
It is, however, the first time I have met him. And what a striking character he is. He rides, he strides, he "lopes" through the forests, tracks and fields of Devon, through the hamlets surrounding Exeter and through the streets of Exeter itself, wherever crimes are committed and justice must be done. Tall, in his long grey cloak, with his jet black hair and often a black, three day stubble on his chin, his appearance is impressive. With his beak of a nose he is compared to a hawk or an eagle and he is, like the hawk or an eagle, a hunter after his prey.
The laws relating to the King's forests have always been strict and the taxes imposed have always weighed heavily on the common people but suddenly things have become much worse. Mysterious and fearful events follow one another in quick succession. The story opens with a beautiful description of a peaceful hamlet , dozing in the sun. The peace is shattered when the thud of a horse's hoofs is heard and a wild- eyed brown mare appears, dragging its rider from the left stirrup. The man is later identified as Humphrey le Bonde, an officer of the King in the management of the Royal forests. Within a week another officer, the Warden, is attacked in his own dwelling and a man, the tanner, is burned to death in his own tannery. A climate of fear and intimidation is being created. But why? For what purpose? It is the job of Crowner John to search out the culprits, and to rid the people of Exeter and the surrounding hamlets of this threat to their peace.
Meanwhile he has his own personal problems to deal with, problems concerning his wife Matilda and his Welsh mistress Nesta. These problems come to weigh heavily on him and on the two women as the story progresses.
And as the story progresses the author creates a vivid and authentic backcloth of life in Medieval Devon. The laws governing the King's forests, the officials appointed to oversee the laws, the system of courts and trials, the cruelty of punishments imposed, the use of torture to elicit information are described The people in the hamlets and in the ale houses and markets and fairs of Exeter live on the page and the details of daily life - the houses, the castles, the ale houses, the jugs of ale and wine and the penny beds of straw for travellers, the stalls with the meat pies for sale - give a clear picture of life in the Middle Ages. And we are not spared the nasty details, for example of the foul stream just outside the Exeter's city wall , called the Shitbrook, a stinking channel containing the effluent of the city, dead animals, sometimes a human body even, and infested with rats Then there is the horrendous account of a visit to an old hag called Bearded Lucy by a lady wishing to determine the time of conception of the child she is carrying.
Against this rich background the plot moves forward at a pace, and the jigsaw pieces of the mystery fall into place in a very satisfactory way, with an unexpected and exciting climax bringing the main story to an end. The conclusion of the sub-plot brings a surprise, too, and a feeling, again, of satisfaction.
.The language used in historical novels can often be problematic for the reader. Sometimes authors
use words and phrases that in their modernity grate on the ear and interrupt the flow of the reader's concentration on the story. Then there are some writers who carefully choose and use modern language in an entirely appropriate way so that it never detracts from the authenticity of the period in which the story is set. Bernard Knight certainly fits into the latter category.
"Fear in the Forest" will delight followers of the Crowner John Mysteries and will also gather many new readers like myself.
Fear In The Forest by
Bernard Knight
