The Last Templar Mysteries
13 primary works
Book 1
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?
Book 2
Midwife and healer Agatha Kyteler is regarded as a witch by the superstitious villagers of Wefford, yet she has no shortage of callers, from the humblest villein to the most elegant and wealthy in the area. But when Agatha's body is found frozen and mutilated in a hedge one wintry morning, there seems to be no clues as to who could be responsible. Not until a local youth runs away and a hue and cry is raised. Sir Baldwin Furnshill, Keeper of the King's Peace, is not convinced of the youth's guilt and soon manages to persuade his close friend Simon Puttock, bailiff of Lydford Castle, to help him continue with the investigation. As they endeavour to find the true culprit, the darker side of the village, with its suspicion and jealousy, emerges. And what is driving the young foreigner, son of a nobleman, to disappear down towards the moors?
Book 3
In fourteenth-century Devon, runaway villeins were brutally punished if apprehended by their masters. But when Peter Bruther flees the home of Sir William Beauscyr, he puts himself in the protection of the king by setting up as a tin miner on the moors. And the bailiff of Lydford, Simon Puttock, has to inform an irate Sir William that he has no legal claim on his wayward servant. When Bruther's body is found hanging from a tree, Simon, assisted by the former Knight Templar Sir Baldwin Furnshill, finds himself investigating cold-blooded murder. And there's no shortage of suspects, from Sir William himself, to his feuding sons, to Thomas Smyth, a wealthy tinner who runs a ruthlessly enforced protection racket funded by landowners. The pressure is on Simon and Baldwin to unravel the truth before further violence ensues.
Book 4
The Devonshire town of Crediton is awaiting an important guest, the Bishop of Exeter. But a band of mercenary soldiers is already in residence, and though mercenaries are a common sight in the fourteenth century, these men are bent on havoc. They terrify travellers, show no respect to anyone and there's a rumour a local girl has been seduced by their leader. The bishop's visit could be ruined...Simon Puttock, bailiff of Lydford, and Baldwin Furnshill, Keeper of the King's Peace, reluctantly attend the bishop's welcome dinner and are relieved when a disturbance interrupts the meal. They are less pleased, though, when they discover there's been a robbery amongst the mercenaries. And then a young girl is discovered murdered, hidden in a chest. The Crediton killings have begun...
Book 5
It is 1319. Tavistock's fair has drawn merchants to Devon from all over England and beyond. Although the influx of visitors and their money puts temptation in the way of cut-purses and other villains, no one expects a murder. So butcher Will Ruby is shocked to discover a headless corpse. Former Knight Templar Sir Baldwin Furnshill, Keeper of the King's Peace, and Simon Puttock, Bailiff of Lydford, have just arrived in Tavistock as guests of Abbot Robert Champeaux when the body is found. When the Abbot asks Simon and Baldwin to investigate, they can hardly refuse. But with an unidentifiable victim, they're badly hampered in their inquiries. Can Simon and Baldwin unravel the complex web of intrigue that has brought death to Tavistock, as the undercurrent of anger and violence that lies beneath the bustling activity of the fair grows ever fiercer?
Book 6
It is 1320 and civil war is looming as Ralph of Houndeslow rides into Crediton. Ralph faces a daunting task as Master of St Lawrence's, the leper hospital. Not only are his charges grievously ill, they are also outcasts of society, shunned by all healthy folk. The citizens of Crediton have other concerns. The murder of Godfrey of London and the assault on his daughter Cecily, for instance, crimes all to easily attributed to the conman and womaniser John of Irlaunde. Sir Baldwin Furnshill, Keeper of the King's Peace, is not convinced that John is the culprit, and soon his is following other leads, assisted by Bailiff Simon Puttock. But only when they discover the identity of the man overheard talking to Cecily before the attack will the astounding truth begin to emerge. Meanwhile, feeling against the lepers is growing, fed by rumours deliberately spread. Unless the burghers of Crediton can be made to see reason, Baldwin and Simon could have full-scale slaughter on their hands.
Book 7
The fates are not being kind to the Hatherleighs. First the head of the family, Sir Roger, is killed in a riding accident; then his young son John is found dead, his poor body horrifically beaten. Although the small West Country community is eager to believe his death was an unfortunate accident, it soon becomes clear that the truth is far more disturbing. This, the seventh mystery featuring Sir Baldwin Furnshill and Simon Puttock, is another absorbing medieval "whodunit."
Book 8
When Moll, a young nun, dies mysteriously at St. Mary's Priory in Belstone, England, the suffragan bishop orders Sir Baldwin de Furnshill, Keeper of the King's Peace, to investigate. Together with Bailiff Simon Puttock, his assistant in seven other puzzles in Jecks's delightful medieval series (The Last Templar, The Crediton Killings, etc.), Baldwin travels to Belstone, which is in a disgraceful state; greed, drunkenness and sexual license have all but destroyed the spirituality of its inhabitants. Baldwin and Puttock learn that Moll was a pious girl, who, shocked at Belstone's corruption, had seen it as her sacred mission to cleanse the priory. If saints are not easy to live with, Moll had been no exception: ever-so-sweetly, she had pointed out the considerable faults of her companions, urging each to confess and reform. No wonder that when she was found dead in the infirmary after having been bled for a migraine, no one was sorry. And indeed Moll's death, the investigators realize, was no accident. Two more novices will die before -- in a stunning denouement -- the author reveals the killer, who turns out to be one of the few likeable characters in this wickedly amusing romp. If the prose is sometimes choppy and repetitious, perhaps it is due to the proliferation of bells in the story, starting with the title. Throughout, bells summon nuns and clerics to prayer at regular intervals, day and night. One wonders where they find time for so much mischief.
Book 9
On their way to a great feast hosted by the de Courtenays, Sir Baldwin Furnshill, Keeper of the King s Peace, and Bailiff Simon Puttock pass by a clearing in the woods where they find the murdered corpse of Sir Gilbert, a Knight Templar and old comrade of Baldwin s. The situation is confounded when a decapitated body is found, and Baldwin and Simon s suspicions that the two deaths are linked seem to be well-founded when Baldwin himself is viciously attacked. Baldwin and Simon find themselves caught up in one of the most baffling investigations they have ever come upon, in which the participators will stop at nothing to achieve their sinister aims...
Book 10
1321. Simon and Baldwin are rewarded for their services in a previous investigation by a summons to Exeter over the Christmas period to receive prestigious gloves of honour from the Boy-Bishop.
However, they learn that Ralph, the glovemaker, has been robbed and murdered. Soon after, a Secondary named Peter is poisoned at the cathedral. Suspicion falls on him, with many assuming that he killed Ralph and then committed suicide, but Simon and Baldwin are unconvinced.
Their investigation unearths deception by the highest ranks of Exeter's leading citizens, and a ruthless murderer, poised to strike again...
However, they learn that Ralph, the glovemaker, has been robbed and murdered. Soon after, a Secondary named Peter is poisoned at the cathedral. Suspicion falls on him, with many assuming that he killed Ralph and then committed suicide, but Simon and Baldwin are unconvinced.
Their investigation unearths deception by the highest ranks of Exeter's leading citizens, and a ruthless murderer, poised to strike again...
Book 11
Plans to host a tournament in the spring of 1322 gives moneylenders everywhere a golden opportunity. Many knights in Devon are already indebted to Benjamin Dudenay, and when a month before the festivities, he is found beaten to death, it is not in the least bit surprising.
Simon and Baldwin must hurry to find the culprit, but then a carpenter commissioned to build the stands is killed in a similar fashion, leaving them with even more mysteries to solve…
Simon and Baldwin must hurry to find the culprit, but then a carpenter commissioned to build the stands is killed in a similar fashion, leaving them with even more mysteries to solve…
Book 12
It is the summer of 1322 and two playmates have uncovered the body of a young girl up on the moors. The body is that of Aline, the ten-year-old daughter of Swetricus, who went missing six years ago. Baldwin Furnshill, Keeper of the King's Peace, and his friend Bailiff Simon Puttock are summoned to investigate, and soon discover Aline is not the only young girl to have been found dead in recent years. It seems that the villagers have been concealing not only a serial killer, but a possible case of cannibalism. Or even, if the rumours are to be believed, a vampire!
Book 13
Amidst the myth and folklore of Tavistock, one tale above all others strikes fear into the hearts of the town's inhabitants - that of the murders on the Abbot's Way. Many years ago, a young acolyte led a group of fellow novices in the theft of their abbot's wine store. But his soul was destroyed with his first sip of illicit wine, and, as legend has it, the devil himself appeared to mete out the his punishment, leading the acolyte and his consorts to their deaths on the treacherous Devon moors. Now, in the autumn of 1322, it looks as though history may be repeating itself. Abbot Robert has found his wine barrel empty, and a body has been discovered on the moors. Bailiff Simon Puttock is called upon to investigate but it soon becomes apparent that it's not just wine that's gone missing from the abbey, and the body on the moor isn't the last. With the arrival of Sir Baldwin Furnshill, Keeper of the King's Peace, the townspeople hope the mystery will finally be solved - but do the terrors of the past provide the key to their present turmoll?