Michael Jecks at Tangled Web UK

Page Updated: 04/02/2008

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Michael Jecks - Page 1

The Templar, The Queen and Her Lover

13 Dec 07

Dispensation of Death

pbk 13 Dec 07

The Malice of Unnatural Death

The Death Ship of Dartmouth

A Friar's Bloodfeud

WebPage: http://www.michaeljecks.co.uk

About the Author (Photo (c) Angus Muir)

Bibliography

Hardback
Headline (2007)

The Templar, The Queen and Her Lover

1325:
an atmosphere of dread and suspicion hangs over England like the thick fog that frequently covers the wild moors of Dartmoor...

The last years have been god-awful. A man was hard-pushed just to survive. Friends of the mightiest in the land could be brought to destruction - many had - the realm was stretched so taut with treachery and mistrust.
And not only in England. In the Chateau Gaillard, Normandy, Blanche de Bromley considers her fall from grace. She has spent a third of her life incarcerated in a damp and squalid cell.
In the gilded cage that is the Palace of Westminster, Isabella, Queen of England, is troubled by court intrigue. Her jealous husband, King Edward II, has removed all her privileges; her regal status, even her children.
When Isabella is dispatched to France to negotiate peace with the French King, Sir Baldwin de Furnshill travels with her to ensure her safety. But it seems no one can be trusted, not least the Queen’s own retinue, and murder, betrayal, adultery and cold, calculating evil are just the beginning of Baldwin’s tempestuous journey into the dark hearts of powerful nations at war with each other.
Acclaim for Michael Jecks' previous mysteries
The most wickedly plotted medieval mystery novels’ The Times
‘Michael Jecks is a national treasure who is taking the medieval mystery genre to new heights’ Scotland on Sunday
‘A gem of historical storytelling’ Northern Echo
`Tremendously successful medieval mystery series’ Sunday Independent
`Michael Jecks has a way of dipping into the past and giving it the immediacy of a present-day newspaper article... He writes with such convincing charm that you expect to walk round a corner in Tavistock and meet some of the characters’ Oxford Times
`Each page is densely packed with cuckolding, coarseness, lewdness, lechery, gore galore, but also with nobility. A heady mix!’ North Devon Journal
`Jecks’ knowledge of medieval history is impressive and is used here to great effect’ Crime Time
‘Great characterisation, a detailed sense of place, and a finely honed plot make this a superb medieval historical’ Library Journal
`Leaves the reader wanting more’ Yorkshire Post
`Really difficult to put down’ Historical Novels Review

First British Edition Headline (2007)

Paperback - Headline (2007)

Dispensation of Death
1325: England is a hotbed of paranoia under the reign of the increasingly deranged and unpredictable Edward II and his lover, Sir Hugh le Despenser.
When the Queen’s Lady-in-Waiting is slaughtered and a man’s body, hideously mutilated, is discovered behind the throne in the Great Hall at Thorney Island, the King demands to be avenged. Sir Baldwin de Furnshill, a new member of the parliament and experienced investigator of murders, is appointed to track down the killer, aided by his friend, Simon Puttock.
As Baldwin and Simon’s investigation deepens it becomes obvious that the murderer could be among the most influential men in the land. In an age of corruption, when the King’s friends can use torture, blackmail and murder to promote their ends, a rural knight an bailiff must fight to stay alive.
Thrust into the midst of the realm’s most powerful and ruthless magnates, Baldwin and Simon soon realise that while their failure to find the murderer carries its own perils, uncovering the truth could be fatal…

Paperback - Headline (2007)

First British Edition Headline (2006)

The Malice of Unnatural Death
A Knights Templar Mystery
It is 1324, and the kingdom is in uproar
Roger Mortimer was once the King most able commander but now he is his most hated enemy. Escaping from the Tower, Mortimer made his way to France, and has hired an assassin to murder the King.
Others have the same idea. In Coventry a special assassin has been paid: a necromancer called John. But just as his plans begin to succeed, the plot is uncovered, and John must escape to a smaller, less well-known city: Exeter.
And as the body of a local craftsman and that of a King’s messenger are found in the city’s streets, Sir Baldwin de Furnshill, the Keeper of the King’s Peace, and his friend, Bailiff Simon Puttock, are asked by the Bishop to find out who was responsible. The dead messenger was carrying a dangerous secret and the Bishop is desperate to have his message returned to him before anyone else discovers it, contents.
Baldwin and Simon are reluctant to get involved, but the politics of the nation are growing ever more insistent, and the two must find the murderer before he can strike again.

First British Edition Headline (2006)

Paperback - Headline (2006)

The Death Ship of Dartmouth
It is 1324 and a disastrous autumn looms large, for as the leaves begin to fall there are those who wish to bring the Kingdom down as well.
In Dartmouth, a man is found lying dead in the road. But the inhabitants of this little haven dismiss his death as a drunken accident, their attentions turned to more worrying matters - piracy. A ship, the St John, has been discovered, half ravaged and the crew missing, in an attack that bears all the hallmarks of the supposedly disbanded Lyme Pirates. Could this be the beginning of a vicious onslaught or is something more sinister happening?
Sir Baldwin de Furnshill has been told by Bishop Stapledon of spies being sent to the great traitor Roger Mortimer. If this is true and messages are reaching Mortimer, civil war in England is inevitable. And so the Kingdom’s most powerful and ruthless men demand that Baldwin and Bailiff Simon Puttock uncover the truth, and quickly.
This is to be the most important investigation of their lives: fail and they will be executed. Succeed and there will be others ready to silence them for ever...

First British Edition Headline (2005)

A Friar's Bloodfeud
It is march 1324 and spring should soon be on its way. But the cruel winter is far from over...
In the rural idyll of Iddesleigh, Bailiff Simon Puttock’s servant, Hugh, has been granted leave to look after his wife, Constance, and her son; but their happy rime is to be short-lived. A gang of men break into their home and attack Hugh’s family.
When word reaches Simon, he and Sir Baldwin dc Furnshill, Keeper of the King’s Peace, immediately set off for Iddesleigh. They arrive to find the cottage burnt to the ground, the bodies from within already buried. It seems that Hugh must have perished in a dreadful accident — but as they are all too aware, appearances can be deceptive. When they learn of the territorial battles between two neighbouring manors, Baldwin and Simon begin to suspect a deeper, darker truth.
Iddesleigh had seemed a harmonious village, but when Simon and Baldwin begin investigating the crime it becomes clear that evil lurks in this land, and the pain and bloodshed are far from over...

About The Author
About the author - very much in his own words!
Most writers have a consistency to their careers. They scribble tales at school, they progress to university to study English and Literature, and take on a job working for a newspaper while creating their masterpieces in the evenings.
My history wasn't so simple. Early in my school career I decided I had no aptitude for essays and chose sciences. With a reasonable number of 0- and A-levels under my belt, I won a place at university to study Actuarial Science. For the lucky many who have never considered the merits of "Life and Other Contingencies" or "Demographics", I should explain that actuaries as a breed have been described as people who find accountancy too exciting! I managed to expand my interests - and stomach - at the cost of my degree.
After two years, out of work and degree-less, I decided to find a profession which needed no training. I became a salesman and roamed the south east of England selling computers, software, leasing, and anything else to do with boxes that produce paper. After a while, two things were apparent. One was that I was successful; the other was that my employers weren't. After thirteen jobs in as many years (all but one of the companies folded) I felt that it was possibly time I found a new occupation. I mulled the idea over, and began working seriously at a novel a short time before mislaying my last employer. With the sudden loss of all income again, my wife and I threw away our television and I started writing in earnest.
My books are currently all based in Devon in the early 1300s. This was a dreadful time, with the country recovering from two years of appalling famine; Anglo-French relations were at an all-time low with bickering that was shortly to lead to the Hundred Years War; the king was weak and rumoured to be homosexual, not a desirable label in a warrior culture, and there was soon to be a civil war; the cynical destruction of the Order of the Knights Templar had led to doubts about the integrity of the Pope and clergy generally. It was a time of booming trade, but also of cruelty and abuse of privilege.
Into this scene I have inserted two characters: Sir Baldwin Furnshill and Simon Puttock. Sir Baldwin had been a Templar; he had seen his Order, and with it his whole way of life, destroyed by a French king determined to pillage its wealth. He was bitter and resentful of any injustice. His friend was the bailiff of Lydford castle, responsible for maintaining law and order, answerable only to the Warden of the Stannaries, the king's appointee who was charged with maximising the profits from the tin miners of Dartmoor. With these two I find that the stories almost write themselves. Every now and again I have to go to the British Library to confirm points, but so far I have been able to leave all the hard work to Baldwin and Simon. From a life of constant pressure and continual meetings, I have found - at last - a career in which I am paid for sitting at home and daydreaming. I work for a few hours in the morning, take my dog for a walk, and work again while she sleeps. I can't stop for weekends, for I find that if I have a break from the story, the whole flow is disrupted. So my efforts are concentrated, writing for up to eighteen hours at a stretch.
Friends call occasionally to make sure I'm alright, wondering if I suffer from concrete starvation or whether my hermit-like existence is turning me into a total introvert. No, I don't miss town, and yes I probably am an introvert - and I love it! As soon as it's possible, my wife and I will move down to the west country so that we can live further from the rat race. Oh, and funnily enough, we never replaced the TV: we talk to each other instead.

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Bibliography
N.B. dates and publishers in dark red indicate British First Editions. Dates and publishers in black indicate recent reprints.

The Templar, The Queen and Her Lover (Headline, 2007) Dec 07

Dispensation of Death (Headline, 2007) Headline Pbk Dec 07

The Malice of Unnatural Death (Headline, 2006) Headline Pbk Jun 07

The Death Ship of Dartmouth (Headline, 2006) Headline Pbk Nov 06

A Friar's Bloodfeud (Headline, 2005)

The Tainted Relic (Simon & Schuster, 2005) ( Furnshill & Puttock)

The Butcher of St Peter's (Headline, 2005) Headline Pbk Dec 05

The Tolls of Death (Headline, 2004) ( Furnshill & Puttock)

The Outlaws of Ennor (Headline, 2003) Headline Pbk Jun 04 ( Furnshill & Puttock)

The Templar's Penance (Headline, 2003) Pbk Dec 03 ( Furnshill & Puttock)

The Mad Monk of Gidleigh ( 2002) Headline Dec 02 Headline Pbk Jun 03

The Devil's Acolyte (Headline, 2002) Pbk Dec 02 ( Furnshill & Puttock)

The Sticklepath Strangler (Headline, 2001) Headline Pbk Jun 02 ( Furnshill & Puttock)

The Tournament of Blood (Headline, 2001) Headline Pbk Nov 01 ( Furnshill & Puttock)

The Boy Bishop's Glovemaker (Headline, 2000) Headline Pbk Jun 01 ( Furnshill & Puttock)

The Traitor of St.Giles (Headline, 2000) ( Furnshill & Puttock)

Belladonna at Belstone (Headline, 1999) Headline Pbk Jun 00 ( Furnshill & Puttock)

Squire Throwleigh's Heir (Headline, 1999) Headline Pbk Dec 99 ( Furnshill & Puttock)

The Leper's Return (Headline, 1998) Headline Pbk Apr 99 ( Furnshill & Puttock)

The Abbot's Gibbet (Headline, 1998) ( Furnshill & Puttock)

The Crediton Killings (Headline, 1997) Headline Pbk 1998 ( Furnshill & Puttock)

A Moorland Hanging (Headline, 1996) ( Furnshill & Puttock)

The Last Templar (Headline, 1995) ( Furnshill & Puttock)

The Merchant's Partner (Headline, 1995) Headline Pbk 1995 ( Furnshill & Puttock)