The King’s Justice

England, 1176. Aelred Barling, a clerk serving the justices of Henry II, is sent from the royal court with his young assistant Hugo Stanton to investigate the killing of a blacksmith in a village outside York. The local authorities already have an outlaw in custody and the lord of the manor expects a rapid conviction, but Barling refuses to treat confession, reputation or social rank as substitutes for proof.

Further deaths undermine the original case and turn the village against anyone who questions its certainties. Barling’s knowledge of law and Stanton’s ability to gain trust lead them through feuds, hidden relationships and the competing interests of manor, prison and household. Their first investigation establishes an uneasy partnership shaped by the expanding royal justice of Henry II’s reign and by the danger of reaching a verdict powerful people do not want.