Cover image of "The King's Justice," an historical legal thriller

Midway through the 12th century, less than 90 years since the Norman Conquest, England’s first civil war drew to a close when the exhausted warring parties reached a shaky agreement. King Stephen was aging, and he accepted as his successor the young son of his adversary, variously known as Queen Matilda or Queen Maud. The boy took the crown as Henry II in 1154. And during his 35-year reign the Anglo-French noble instituted a series of legal reforms that laid the basis for the English common law and the grand jury system. Novelist E. M. Powell shows Henry’s reforms in action in her historical legal thriller, The King’s Justice. It’s the first of three books in a series about a pair of court officials. The story unfolds in 1176 as one of the King’s six newly created circuit courts holds forth in the city of York.

An odd couple investigates a baffling village murder

Hugo Stanton and Aelred Barling are an odd couple, thrown together by circumstance. Barling is a senior official, a clerk to the King’s justices. He’s a fastidious and self-important middle-aged man who is at first contemptuous of Stanton, who is merely one of his messengers. In Barling’s view, Stanton “had a careless appearance that was never up to the standards of the court. A fondness for alehouses and, even worse, bawdy houses. Worst of all, a demeanour that showed no respect for authority.” Yet Stanton is clearly the smarter of the two men, and in the course of their inquiry into a baffling village murder, Barling comes to have a very different opinion of the messenger. Because it’s Stanton, not Barling, who identifies the murderer in a case with no evidence and no witnesses.

The King’s Justice (Stanton and Barling #1) by E. M. Powell (2018) 287 pages ★★★☆☆

Woodcut of trial by the water ordeal as described in this historical legal thriller
In 12th century England, and for hundreds of years to follow, trial by ordeal was common when accused criminals or witches refused to confess. Here, officers of a royal court force the accused under water. If the accused floated, they were guilty. Which often meant that the innocent would drown. Image: Wikipedia

A blood-soaked case

Stanton and Barling encounter an obstacle as soon as they arrive on-site. Without exception, the villagers and their drunken lord all agree: the murderer is a beggar living in the woods named Nicholas Lindley, the lack of evidence or witnesses be damned. It was he and he alone who bludgeoned to death the village blacksmith, Geoffrey Smith. And when a second murder takes place, Barling quickly agrees. The evidence is circumstantial, but there is no other suspect. Stanton, however, is convinced of Lindley’s innocence. And it will be his quick thinking and fast action that eventually bring this blood-soaked case to a close. Despite the disruptive behavior of the villagers and their lack of respect for the King’s men.

Author E. M. Powell digs into the personalities and histories of her two protagonists, successfully setting them up for future investigations. By contrast, the other characters tend to come across as one- or at most two-dimensional. There’s little depth there. And her portrayal of Barling as a dolt, giving all the credit to Stanton for the solution to the case, doesn’t quite ring true.

About the author

Photo of E. M. Powell, author of this historical legal thriller
E. M. Powell. Image: Charlene Newcomb

E. M. Powell is a contributing editor to the International Thriller Writers’ The Big Thrill magazine. She blogs for English Historical Fiction Authors and is the social media manager for the Historical Novel Society. Powell was born and raised in the Republic of Ireland into the family of Michael Collins (the legendary revolutionary and founder of the Irish Free State). She now lives in northwest England with her husband and daughter. 

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