Michael Jecks

A Friar's Bloodfeud (2005)

This book is great. What's not to like?I fully admit that this is the only one of Jecks' Knights Templars mysteries that I've read, but I somehow suspect I'm not being unfair in claiming that this is, essentially, a series about a man who solves crimes by looking at people WITH HIS EYES and liki...

Death Ship of Dartmouth (2006)

Some long running detective series may claim to be "stand-alones" but they definitely are not.Death Ship of Dartmouth presents this problem as it remains a tricky one to get into, with its hugely complex cast to sort out when one is unfamiliar with impinging past events in the series. It seemed ...

The Malice of Unnatural Death (2007)

Well, if you like murders by necromancy, this is for you.Again, this is a genuine case. There was an attempt to kill the King and his friends by use of sorcery. A known performer of the magical arts was hired to shape wax into the likeness of the King and the other victims, and to try to use sorc...

A Moorland Hanging (2004)

I stumbled on to this series and this, the third in the series, is the second one I've read. Jecks does a great job of setting the scene. He's obviously done his research. As a result it's easy to connect with the characters and their assumptions, concerns, and devotion to duty. The major pro...

The Boy-Bishop's Glovemaker (2001)

Originally published on my blog here in January 2002.I found this novel from Jecks' Simon Puttock series more difficult to get into than most of them; it doesn't seem to flow quite so easily. The setting is rather different, being the city of Exeter rather than the wilds of medieval Dartmoor, and...

The Butcher of St Peter's (2005)

The Outlaws of Ennor (2004)

The Traitor of St Giles (2001)

The Crediton Killings (2005)

THE CREDITON KILLINGS (Historical-UK-1300s) – G+Jecks, Michael – 6th in seriesHeadline, 1997 – UK Paperback*** Ex-Knight Templar Baldwin Furnshill, Keeper of the King's Peace and Simon Puttock, bailiff of Lydford, and his wife Margaret, have come to Crediton for the arrival of the Bishop of Exete...

The Chapel of Bones (2005)

The Leper's Return (1999)

The book is a murder mystery set in medieval England. I expected the author would take me to the Holy Land given that date and the title of the book. We never left the English town where the tale began. Why leave when so much was going on where we were? Leprosy and a leper hospital were the ...

The Mad Monk of Gidleigh (2003)

The Devil's Acolyte (2002)

The Tolls of Death (2004)

The Sticklepath Strangler (2002)

The Templar's Penance (2003)

The Abbot's Gibbet (2006)

I was just about ready to pull the plug on this series but having bought this book, I decided that I should read it before trading it in. The characters were drawn out much more comprehensibly. I'm starting to see definite characterizations for Simon and Baldwin, and the secondary characters are ...

The Merchant's Partner (2004)

The Tournament of Blood (2001)

Dispensation of Death (2008)

This was the first book where I had to get into the politics of the day from the perspective of London. It was hard to move my characters from their homes in Devon, but it was important to show how the King and his adviser, Hugh Despenser, were ruling the nation. Despenser was, in effect, running...