The King's Justice

This is the first installment  of the Stanton and Barling Mystery series by E. M. Powell. It takes place in 1176 England with Aelred Barling, court clerk to Henry II's justices, and Hugo Stanton, Barling's messenger. They are sent from the traveling royal courts to investigate a murder in Claresham after Sir Reginald Edgar arrives at the court in York to request permission to hang a suspected murderer. Edgar is a little drunk and a lot obnoxious and since he has no witnesses his request is denied. Barling and Stanton are ordered to investigate the matter and administer the king's justice, if necessary.  The case initially appears to be an open and shut case with a suspect already locked up in jail. Additional bodies begin to be found but with the suspect escaping from jail, the villagers in Claresham are demanding that he be caught and hung immediately.

The king's justice is the name of a test that determines if a person is innocent or guilty. The test is performed by tying the suspect's hands to their ankles and submerging them in water.  If the suspect drowns, he is innocent.  If the suspect floats, he is guilty and is hung later in the day.  I wondered while I was reading this whether the person controlling the rope that submerges the suspects was able to decide who was guilty. It seemed to me that this person held onto the rope at all times and could submerge you in a way that you floated as a guilty person.

I enjoyed the book but with 6 or 7 murders to investigate it was a bit exhausting. There were several intriguing suspects and many twists and turns, perhaps too many twists and turns if that is even possible. The back and forth between new victims, new suspects and new twists should have been suspenseful but it just seemed to be too much for one book.  With each new victim there was a new suspect. Also, it was surprising that Stanton was a more cerebral sleuth than Barling. I expected the opposite. It will be interesting to see how their work relationship grows in subsequent novels.

4 out of 5 stars.