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Historical The Elixer of Death by Bernard Knight $24.95 / Simon & Schuster/ 2006 Both first-time readers and dedicated followers of English author Bernard Knight's blustery Crowner John will be pleased with The Elixir of Death, the tenth action-packed volume of the medieval knight’s adventures. As one of Richard the Lionheart’s first coroners, Sir John de Wolfe has been busy curbing the corruption of his brother-in-law sheriff, investigating rapes and serial murders, conducting inquests, and diverting fees to the King’s coffers to pay for the monarch’s ransom from his European prison. And that is to say nothing of John’s wrangles with his spiteful wife and his trysts with his various mistresses. Now, he, his faithful henchman, and Thomas de Peyne, his diligent clerk, are caught in a deadly maelstrom of alchemy, Saracen jihad, and atrocious murders. Some of de Wolfe’s Exeter life has remained the same. Gwyn is still his faithful retainer and bodyguard; Matilda is still his shrewish wife, and Thomas is still Sir John’s clerk, but the defrocked cleric is about to have his priestly privileges restored. Nesta, the Welsh landlady of the Bush Inn, is John’s current intimate interest while the cook-maid at the de Wolfe household still hovers about for the odd pat on the bum. But long-time love interest Hilda is about to re-enter center stage when her shipmaster husband and members of his crew are found skewered to death by vicious scimitars, and their ship is left to flounder on nearby rocks. Ever the gentleman knight, John is soon wrestling with his feelings for Hilda versus those for Nesta, even as he marshals Gwyn, Thomas, and assorted reeves, cottars, priests, bailiffs, and “first finders” to investigate the seamen’s deaths. But if their deaths make John’s life interesting, the deaths of several others make it even more so, especially given the sacrilegious displays of the mutilated corpses, which lead John and his crew to suspect the foreign influence of Saracens. And while Knight reveals the comings and goings of the Moorish murderers and their interplay with a French spy and a Scottish alchemist, the novel leaves the illiterate John to solve the riddles of the murders and their ultimate connection to Prince John. Like old shoes, the black-robed Sir John, his friends, his pets, and even his enemies wear well. And the settings within which they live are comfortably realistic. Under Knight’s magic fingers, Rougemount Castle comes alive, the Bush Inn rocks with revelry, and the air of jealousy at Sir John’s and Matilda’s dinner table becomes palpable. And adding to the tension is Knight’s obvious knowledge of medieval facts and real life historical figures, along with his ability to integrate them seamlessly into the plot. As a bonus, Knight includes a Historical Postscript, an Author’s Note, and a glossary of medieval terms. However, all should be read in advance of the novel to truly appreciate what a marvellous job Knight has done in creating a story of universal appeal and striking relevance to today’s unsettled times. — M. Wayne Cunningham

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