Awards

• Short-listed for Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2007
• Shortlisted for Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2007.

Overview

When a body is found lying in the middle of the road, many in the little haven of Dartmouth assume that a drunk had fallen and killed himself. At the same time, the town is on alert because a ship, the St. John, has been found ravaged by pirates out at sea, the crew killed or captured. Is this the beginning of a new onslaught by pirates, or is something more sinister happening? Sir Baldwin de Furnshill has been told by Bishop Stapledon of spies and messengers being sent to the great traitor Roger Mortimer in France. If the messengers reach Mortimer, civil war in England will soon break out. Bailiff Simon Puttock and Baldwin must uncover the truth about the deaths and they must be quick. Powerful and ruthless men in the kingdom will not tolerate their failure. This is the most important investigation of their lives: it could result in their own execution if they fail to learn the facts. But if they succeed, other men will want them silenced forever.

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Reviews

In this richly atmospheric series of medieval murder mysteries, Michael Jecks gives us tales steeped in intrigue and historical detail. Skillfully evoking the colorful, but often brutal tableaux of the Middle Ages, Jecks has drawn comparison with Ellis Peters. Now former Knight Templar Sir Baldwin Furnshill and Bailiff Simon Puttock, his savvy sleuths, are on the case again in another compelling, well-crafted tale.

Year 1324. As England's King and his French wife spar, the cruel and influential Despenser family rule the land.Sir Baldwin de Furnshill, Keeper of the King's Peace, is sent to Dartmouth by Bishop Walter II ostensibly to make sure a Frenchman leaves the country safely. In Dartmouth, Baldwin's old friend, Bailiff Simon Puttock, must deal with the body of a man found in a roadwork hole and the mystery of a ship found burning at sea. All members of the crew are missing, save for the body of one man found amid the cargo. The arrival of hard-drinking but capable Coroner Sir Richard de Welles adds fuel to a volatile mix that includes a group of rival shipping merchants; a confessed murderer who is abjuring the realm; three traveling pavers; Pierre de Caen, a French knight and brother-in-law to Pyckard, a dying merchant whose wife was raped and murdered; and Sir Andrew de Limpsfield and his ship's crew, who are in the service of Hugh Despenser and eager to catch Pierre, who they claim is a spy for the French. There'll be more murders, beatings and fierce fights before Baldwin, Simon and Sir Richard are able to make sense of the web of interrelated crimes.Complex and full of the obligatory medieval lore, but more gripping and faster-moving than others in the Knights Templar series (A Friar's Bloodfeud, May 2006, etc.). (Kirkus Reviews)

Author Information

Michael Jecks gave up a career in the computer industry to concentrate on writing and the study of medieval history, especially that of Devon and Cornwall. He lives with his family in northern Dartmoor.

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