HE AUTHOR.......Professor Bernard Knight CBE
Bernard Knight has been writing for over forty-eight years, his first novel being published in 1963. He is now the third longest-serving member of the Crime Writer's Association and was for a number of years one of their judges for the CWA Silver Dagger Award for non-fiction.
He has written crime novels, 'straight' historical novels, and many historical mysteries, as well as biography, medical and medico-legal textbooks, popular books on forensic medicine and on the history of medicine. In addition, he has written many radio and television drama and documentary scripts, as well as acting as technical advisor and presenter of several television series. He is a founding member of the 'Medieval Murderers' promotion group (see p.5) and for many years has regularly reviewed crime books for the Tangled Web site (www.twbooks.co.uk)
He has written crime novels, 'straight' historical novels, and many historical mysteries, as well as biography, medical and medico-legal textbooks, popular books on forensic medicine and on the history of medicine. In addition, he has written many radio and television drama and documentary scripts, as well as acting as technical advisor and presenter of several television series. He is a founding member of the 'Medieval Murderers' promotion group (see p.5) and for many years has regularly reviewed crime books for the Tangled Web site (www.twbooks.co.uk)
However, writing has not been his main profession, as he is both a doctor and a barrister. Starting life as a farm-worker, intending to take a degree in agriculture, he then became a hospital laboratory technician before gaining entry to medical school. Qualifying in Cardiff in 1954, he did a short spell as a family doctor in a Welsh mining valley, then entered the Royal Army Medical Corps as a regular medical officer, serving for three years in Malaya during the terrorist Emergency, mostly as the pathologist in a small military hospital in North Malaya which he likened to MASH!
On returning to civilian life, he became a forensic pathologist in the London Hospital, Whitechapel, as assistant to Dr Francis Camps, then became Senior Lecturer and Home Office Pathologist in Newcastle and Cardiff, being appointed Professor of Forensic Pathology in the University of Wales in 1980, retiring in 1996. He founded the Wales Institute of Forensic Medicine, of which he was the first Director and remained a Home Office Pathologist until 1998.
He has been President of the Forensic Science Society, the British Association in Forensic Medicine, Vice-President of the International Academy of Legal Medicine and a member of the General Medical Council. He has been involved in hundreds of homicide cases, for both prosecution and defence, including Fred and Rosemary West, Mary Bell, Vatican banker Roberto Calvi and Stephen Truscott (Canada).
Professor Knight was called to the Bar at Gray's Inn in 1967 and was made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 1993, for services to forensic medicine. He is married with a son Huw and lives in Cardiff, where he was born in 1931.
His qualifications are;-
MD, BCh, MRCP, FRCPath, DMJ(Path), FHKCPath, FFFMRCP, FRSM(Hon), MD(Hon), DM(Hon), DSc(Hon), PhD(Hon), LLD(Hon) and Barrister of Gray's Inn, London
On returning to civilian life, he became a forensic pathologist in the London Hospital, Whitechapel, as assistant to Dr Francis Camps, then became Senior Lecturer and Home Office Pathologist in Newcastle and Cardiff, being appointed Professor of Forensic Pathology in the University of Wales in 1980, retiring in 1996. He founded the Wales Institute of Forensic Medicine, of which he was the first Director and remained a Home Office Pathologist until 1998.
He has been President of the Forensic Science Society, the British Association in Forensic Medicine, Vice-President of the International Academy of Legal Medicine and a member of the General Medical Council. He has been involved in hundreds of homicide cases, for both prosecution and defence, including Fred and Rosemary West, Mary Bell, Vatican banker Roberto Calvi and Stephen Truscott (Canada).
Professor Knight was called to the Bar at Gray's Inn in 1967 and was made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 1993, for services to forensic medicine. He is married with a son Huw and lives in Cardiff, where he was born in 1931.
His qualifications are;-
MD, BCh, MRCP, FRCPath, DMJ(Path), FHKCPath, FFFMRCP, FRSM(Hon), MD(Hon), DM(Hon), DSc(Hon), PhD(Hon), LLD(Hon) and Barrister of Gray's Inn, London
E-mail; knight.j4@sky.com
"CROWNER ROYAL"
"CROWNER ROYAL"
THE LATEST IN THE CROWNER JOHN SERIES
Number Thirteen in the saga, was published in hardback in April 2009, and in paperback in August 2009
Next book (April 2010) will be 'A Plague of Heretics'
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THE 'MEDIEVAL MURDERERS'
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THE 'MEDIEVAL MURDERERS'
A
few years ago, several of us historical mystery writers, all members of
the Crime Writers' Association, decided to band together to
self-promote our books. We were 'midlist authors', (at least we were
until Chris Sansom joined us!) and publishers tend not to spend much
promotion money on any but the big names, so we decided to push
ourselves by giving talks at literary festivals, libraries and
bookshops. The first four were Susannah Gregory, Ian Morson, Michael
Jecks and myself, soon joined by Philip Gooden and later by C J Sansom
and recently, Karen Maitland.
We
have had a good run of bookings over the past six or seven years,
either as the whole group or often with two or three of us together,
giving fairly light-hearted, 'chatty' presentations about why we write,
how we write and the particular problems of historical crime fiction.
We avoid giving 'readings' like the plague, as we think this is usually
deadly dull and of little relevance out of context of the whole book.
After
a couple of years of this, we had the brainwave (we thought) of writing
a book between us - not a series of seperate short stories, but a
'chain story' in which we follow a common theme and plot, each using
our characters from our series - in my case, Crowner John.
The first was The Tainted Relic,
where Susannah wrote a prologue about a chip of the True Cross stolen
from Jerusalem at the First Crusade and cursed by its slain keeper.
Then each of us wrote a 20-25 thousand word story about an incident
involving our own characters in which the curse was manifest - then
handed it on chronologically to the next writer for his/her episode. At
the end, I tied it up with an Epilogue.
It
was taken by Simon and Schuster, the Crowner John publishers, and was
such a success that we are now writing the sixth such book for S&S
for 2010.
They have been taken for Audio by Clipper and are in hardback and paperback versions.
The books are;
THE TAINTED RELIC..................... ISBN 07432 67958
THE SWORD OF SHAME................ ISBN 978 14165 21907
THE HOUSE OF SHADOWS............ ISBN 9780 7432 95468
THE LOST PROPHECIES ................ ISBN 9781 84737 0938
KING ARTHUR'S BONES................ ISBN 9761 84737 3465
The next for 2010 will be THE SACRED STONE
The next for 2010 will be THE SACRED STONE
