8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Solid, enjoyable, but unspectacular, February 4, 2003
One, wintry morning, local midwife and "witch" Agatha Kyteler is found dead in a hedge at the edge of a field, her throat cut so viciously that her head is nearly severed. There seem to be no clues at all, until soon afterwards a youth - who recently boasted at how he felt the woman deserved death - flees the village of Wefford, seeming to confirm his guilt. All around are convinced that he is the culprit, but Sir Baldwin Furnshill, Keeper of the King's Peace, is not so sure...there are several niggling doubts, several things which the youth's guilt would leave unexplained. And Baldwin seems to be proved right when the runaway is captured once more, and soon after it is revealed that in fact has an alibi...Which means that Simon Puttock, bailiff of the area, is going to have to reassess his ideas and begin again...
As far as historical mysteries go, this one is much more satisfying than his first, THE LAST TEMPLAR, which left a bit to be desired. THE MERCHANT'S PARTNER is a much better book, full of intrigue, red-herrings, subtle historical detail (be it correct or not, I don't much mind), good characters and an adequate plot.
I don't think anyone will claim that it's full of action and excitement, but despite that this book is a page-turner because Jecks' writing really, really flows, leading us from one scene to the next with smooth ease. While in his first book the only characters who seemed real or developed were the two leads, this time around the development of his subsidiary characters is far more satisfactory, and the plot is a lot more interesting as well. Red herrings are laid expertly, taking the reader, and the investigators, completely down the wrong path, until the end when we finally see the light in what is an excellent solution to the mystery. If you're a fan of the historical mystery sub-genre, I would recommend you try Jecks...certainly, the rest of the series shows much promise indeed.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A good mystery..., February 24, 2001
I usually do not do reviews with Amazon but after reading the previous one of this book I simply had to.
I am a frequent reader of medieval mysteries and have read most of the "classics". With Michael Jecks series I found a new delightful author for myself.
Even if historical backround may not be researched thouroughly enough (I do not know enough to judge this) I liked the book immensely.
For me it was one of those books I simply cannot lay down. The mystery itself is surprising (even if the final solution is a bit aprupt and simple) and kept me guessing the whole book through. Furthermore I like the main characters - while defining the two major actors (bailiff and knight) in the first novel, other characters achieve more depths in this second story (e. g. the seargeant) - and their development from the previous book.
I for sure am looking forward to read the next novels (which I just ordered) and hope that the quality of the books continues to be good.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Didn't grab me, December 30, 2004
Merchant's Partner is a business like medieval mystery. It has all the right indgridients and has an interesting plot as well as a likeable lead character but somehow it never really rises above adequate.
An old woman is found murdered and the local pretty boy is suspected of being the killer. Our hero, a former Templar knight (imagine a 12th century Catholic Jedi) must find the killer and prevent more murders. Along the way he's bedazzled by a sexy widow who may know more about the murder than she should.
It's a solid begining but the story is marred by a horribly slow pace, and by historical blunders. The wolf scene was beautifully written but it rejects both history and animal behavior. The author also occasionally makes the mistake of making people from the past think and talk like folks do today.
There are things to like about this book but there wasn't enough to make me want to stick with the series.
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