A Crowner John Mystery #7

Who would dare kill one of the king’s foresters? Coroner Sir John investigates in this characterful instalment in the Crowner John medieval mystery series, set in twelfth-century England.

June 1195. A tall, brown mare gallops into the sleepy village of Sigford, its rider dragged by the stirrup, the broken shaft of an arrow protruding from his back. The embroidered badge on the dead man’s tunic identifies him as a senior officer of the Royal Forest – a team of men tasked with upholding the harsh laws that prevent everyone but the king from hunting in England’s forests. The punishment for killing a deer on the king’s land is mutilation … or death.

With plenty of money still in the victim’s purse, it’s clear that robbery isn’t the motive. But what is? When a second forest officer is violently attacked, county coroner Sir John de Wolfe begins to uncover evidence of a sinister conspiracy. And to his deep suspicion, his unscrupulous brother-in-law, the sheriff Sir Richard de Revelle, seems to be taking an unusual interest in the case …

A Crowner John Mystery #9

Coroner Sir John investigates the murder of a man with too many enemies to count in this pacey, twisty instalment in the Crowner John medieval mystery series, set in twelfth-century England.

Exeter, 1195. High-spirited young knights, drunken squires, pickpockets and horse thieves are pouring into the city for an exciting one-day jousting tournament. Not even a serious altercation between Sir Hugo Peverel, a manor lord from nearby Tiverton, and a mysterious Frenchman, Reginald de Charterai, can spoil the fun.

Two days later, however, Sir Hugo’s body is found in a barn, stabbed in the back. De Charterai seems the obvious culprit, but the county coroner, Sir John de Wolfe, soon discovers there’s no shortage of people who wished the almost universally hated Hugo dead. All three of his brothers have a motive: two for his title, and one for Hugo’s attractive young wife, Beatrice. Mistreated Beatrice had good reason herself to despatch her cheating husband – as did several prominent villagers whose lives Hugo ruined. With so many suspects to choose from, Sir John is confronted with one of the most difficult cases of his distinguished career.

Zévaco porte encore une fois, dans ce roman, haut la bannière de la littérature populaire, au meilleur sens du terme. L'histoire se passe à Paris, à la fin du XIXe siècle. Disparitions, réapparitions, meurtres, trahisons, vengeances, tous les ingrédients du genre y sont. Et vous ne vous ennuierez pas pendant une seule ligne…Fleurs de paris, ce sont quatre femmes : Lise, Marie Charmant, Magali et Rose de Corail. Fleurs de paris est aussi l'histoire de la famille du baron d'anguerrand et celle de la vengeance inassouvie de Jeanne Mareil.Le roman se déroule dans le Paris de la fin du XIXe siècle.Roman populaire, fleurs de paris est considéré comme l'un des premiers romans policiers.