Michael Jecks “The Malice of Unnatural Death”

Like Ellis Peters, Michael Jecks had created a credible and fun medieval setting for his mysteries. In this case the town of Exeter is the setting and with Helen and Ian living there it makes it quite interesting.

It is 1324, the kingdom is in an uproar. Roger Mortimer—once the king's most able commander, now his most hated enemy—has escaped from the Tower and hired an assassin to murder the monarch. Others have the same idea. In Coventry, a special assassin has been hired: a necromancer by the name of John. But just as his plan begins to succeed, the plot is uncovered. John must escape to a smaller city: Exeter. And when the bodies of a local craftsman and the king's messenger are found in Exeter's streets, Sir Baldwin Furnshill and Bailiff Simon Puttock, are asked by the Bishop to find the murderer. The dead messenger was carrying a dangerous secret, and the Bishop is desperate that it not be discovered. Baldwin and Simon are reluctant to get involved, but political pressures are growing, and the two must find the murderer before he strikes again. But when murderers use magic, no one is safe.

The list of Medieval West Country Mysteries:-
1. The Last Templar (1995)
2. The Merchant's Partner (1995)
3. A Moorland Hanging (1996)
4. The Crediton Killings (1997)
5. The Abbot's Gibbet (1998)
6. The Leper's Return (1998)
7. Squire Throwleigh's Heir (1998)
8. Belladonna At Belstone (1999)
9. The Traitor of St. Giles (2000)
10. The Boy-Bishop's Glovemaker (2000)
11. The Tournament of Blood (2001)
12. The Sticklepath Strangler (2001)
13. The Devil's Acolyte (2002)
14. The Mad Monk of Gidleigh (2002)
15. The Templar's Penance (2003)
16. The Outlaws of Ennor (2004)
17. The Tolls of Death (2004)
18. The Chapel of Bones (2004)
19. The Butcher of St. Peter's (2005)
20. A Friar's Blood Feud (2005)
21. The Death Ship of Dartmouth (2006)
22. The Malice of Unnatural Death (2007)
23. Dispensation of Death (2007)
24. The Templar, the Queen and Her Lover (2007)
25. The Prophecy of Death (2008)

So far, the other ones I have read, are:-
The Last Templar
(The first book in the Medieval West Country Mystery series)
(1995)
When a spate of burnings occur in a quiet Devon village, Bailiff Simon Puttock is grateful for the help of the astute yet strangely reticent Sir Baldwin, who has recently come to live nearby. Are the deaths linked, and will the murderer strike again?

The Traitor of St. Giles
(The ninth book in the Medieval West Country Mystery series)
(2000)
A warrior lies dead, one of his hounds dead at his side, and nearby is the body of a convicted felon. Could the felon have killed a trained knight and his dog? And if he did, where is the knight's horse and money? And then Baldwin and Simon learn that the dead knight was ambassador to the king's hated friends, a man with many enemies.

The Boy-Bishop's Glovemaker
(The tenth book in the Medieval West Country Mystery series)
(2000)
When Ralph, a noted philanthropist, is found dead, Exeter's people are baffled, but then a youth is poisoned in the Cathedral and the mystery deepens. Was it suicide, or was he killed by outlaws in revenge for the hanging of their comrade? Hidden by the Christmas celebrations, there is a ruthless murderer who will soon strike again.


MICHAEL JECKS, born in 1960, 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 and his wife and daughter now live in northern Dartmoor.