The Elixir of Death: No. 10 (Crowner John Mystery) - Tapa dura

Prince John still plots to seize the throne from his brother, Richard the Lionheart - and in his wicked schemes he is actively supported by King Philip of France who offers to help John financially by sending him a mysterious alchemist, a Mohammedan named Nizam, who claims to be able to turn base metals into solid gold. But the ship which was transporting Nizam and his retainers to the Devon tin mines is found wrecked off the south Devon coast, its crew savagely slaughtered. Shortly afterwards, Sir Peter le Calve, a Norman knight living near Exeter, is foully murdered, being part-crucified and beheaded, his head stuck on the roodscreen of the cathedral. It's up to Sir John de Wolfe, the county coroner, to find a motive and connection between the killlings. And just what is his unscrupulous brother-in-law, the disgraced ex-sheriff and known Prince John-sympathiser, Richard de Revelle, trying to hide?

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.