Another series (which somehow we have missed on this site) set in the days of King Richard the Lionheart and Bad King John (then still Bad Prince John).
John is, as always, scheming to seize the throne from his absent brother. (When Richard wasn't crusading in the Holy land or a prisoner in Austria, he lived in France - he was also Duke of Normandy and of Aquitaine. Apparently, he didn't even speak English.)
For John, though, there are two problems. One is that he has no legal or even moral right to the throne of his elder brother. The other is that he has no money. If he had the money, he could seize power easily, or so he believes.
In order to help him raise money, his ally King Philip of France (who naturally sides with John against Richard) sends him an alchemist reputedly able to change base metals into gold. But the alchemist, Nizam, has his own agenda, and a series of brutal murders take place.
What I personally like most about this book is Crowner John's relationship with his women. There is his unbearable Norman wife, Matilda; there is Nesta, the sexy Welsh landlady of the Bush Inn where he passes his evenings and sometimes his nights; and there is his childhood sweetheart, Hilda, the beautiful Saxon woman he has always loved and who is now, suddenly, a widow.
Sometimes slow, but you do feel involved in the life of the people of medieval Exeter and the Devon coast.
KB
