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1314, Paris: Pope Clement has destroyed the Order of Knights Templar, wrongly persuaded of their corruption. Watching through a veil of tears as his friends die at the stake, a surviving knight swears vengeance on their accusers. 1316, Devon: The newly appointed bailiff of Lydford Castle, Simon Puttock, is called to a village where a charred body has been found in a burned-out cottage. Unaccustomed to violence in this peaceful area, Simon assumes it's accidental death - but Sir Baldwin Furnshill, recently returned from abroad, quickly convinces him that the victim had been killed before the fire began. As Simon and the astute knight piece together the evidence, word comes of another murder, more horrible by far. Are the two incidents connected - and will the killers strike again?… (more)
User reviews
The book is much too long, with lots of boring repetitive bits. The prolog gives everything away, so there is really no mystery. The development of the characters doesn't make any sense. The development is mostly a lot of repetitive stuff about glints in their
The detection is nothing more than asking questions and believing what the last person says.
There is some interesting bits about the Templars, and the time period, but overall it seemed to lack historical connections to anything outside small village life.
I am sure this series must get better because there are now something like 15 of them, but as a start this book is poor. I will not be reading anymore in the series.
Well written, interesting characters that show real depth, a good book.
The first Knights Templar Mystery, The Last Templar, was an outstanding read that I thoroughly enjoyed. As many of you already know, I am a big fan of the Knights Templar and love to get my eyeballs on anything related to the Templars. Obviously, with a book titled
Jecks has based his stories around the detective skills of Simon Puttock, the bailiff of Lydford Castle, and his neighbor Sir Baldwin Furnshill, a former Templar. Furnshill escaped Paris just after the last Templar Grand Master de Molay was burned at the stake. That is about all the connection to the Templars there is in this novel.
As a murder mystery, I found Jecks’s main characters to be believable and likable. I found the plot intriguing, and like all good murder mystery genre writing, it kept me guessing right to the very end. I also found the historical referencing to be accurate but not overwhelming not taxing on the readers’ attention span. Occasionally, historical fiction writers get a little too involved with the individual trees and forget the forest; that does not happen with this novel.
Out of the seventeen Jecks novels that I am aware of, I have read eleven. I am always on the lookout for the Jecks novels that I have not read because I really like the story. There is no better praise for any serial author than to have somebody read more than one book in that series. If I were Jecks, I would be very happy to have found a reader so engrossed in the stories I have drafted.
This is one series of historical fiction / murder mystery that I would recommend to any reader. I have always thought Jecks’s writing style was close to Ellis Peters but I am going to have to go back and read a few of Peters’ books again just to be sure.
Happy Reading,
This is clearly a preparatory book where we are introduced to the main characters and their relationships are established. With this in mind I tried to stay interested in the sometimes tedious descriptions and motive-explaining. Like any series, you have to learn who the people are in the beginning, so that their actions and reasons in subsequent books make sense to you. If you read this book expecting Ellis Peters you will be disappointed because the storytelling just doesn't measure up. I found the writing and the history in this book were somehow lacking and I don't feel motivated to read any others in the series to see if there is any improvement in future books.
The story begins with the execution of Templars and some background as to why they
It is Puttock’s duty, as bailiff, to investigate these matters with Baldwin showing some interest in the proceedings. The book moves on at a slow pace, rather like the slowness of the travel in Medieval times. It is quite interesting, but never really grabbed me in such a way that I would make an effort to read more of the series. There are some quite interesting characters in the book, and, yes, I did want to find out how it was resolved, but once completed I cannot say that I was hungry for more.
Pleasant read, some excellent descriptions.
3.5 stars
Review: This book drags, possibly because it is the first in a series and there is a lot of background the author feels he needs to relate.
Taking place in 14th century England, the novel focuses on two men. The new Bailiff Simon who is anxious to
Within a day of their first meeting Simon is called to the scene of a house fire where there has been a death. Sir Baldwin also shows up at the site and requests to work on what he believes is a murder. Simon remains unconvinced until a death where an abbot who is traveling through is taken hostage and later burned at the stake like a heretic. Is it possible that both deaths are related and if so why? Also who could possibly commit such horrific murders and in the case of the abbot risk eternal damnation for the death of a man of God. These questions and more perplex Simon as he attempts to move forward in solving the two deaths.
This book moves at a fast pace with a lot of action and many twists and turns keeping the reader guessing. As mentioned earlier there is a lot of historical detail here adding interest to the storylines and complex plots. Well drawn characters have depth and act as one would expect men of the 14th centers to act.
This novel is the first of an ongoing series featuring Simon and Sir Baldwin. I believe The Last Templar is a great beginning to what should be a very interesting series.
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Fic Mystery Jecks |