Customer Reviews

The Sticklepath Strangler

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I enjoyed this book primarily because it successfully recreates a segment of life during the Middle Ages -- an extremely interesting historical period that is much misunderstood and maligned. There are problems, however. For one thing, the book is too long and padded. Moreover, it does not even remotely approach a top-flight mystery. No, I couldn't figure out who did it (the use of deductive reasoning is pointless here, for there are really no clues with which to work). But I did know who didn't do it. Unlike Agatha Christie, for example, Michael Jecks doesn't know how to reveal the inner thoughts of his characters without revealing their innocence! This, of course, is a major weakness for any mystery writer.

The bottom line? This is an enjoyable read, as long as one doesn't expect too much from it.

First Sentence: They were out there.

It started with the death of young girls, and the accusation of cannibalism, the murder of an innocent man and his curse on the village. Now a young girl's skull has been found and Sir Baldwin de Fernshill, Keeper of the King's Peace, Bailiff Simon Puttock and Coroner Roger de Gidleigh travel to the village of Sticklepath; a place of death and secrets. The death toll keeps rising.

Jecks is so good at not only establishing a sense of time and place, but creating an atmosphere. The depth and extent of his research is always evident.

He clearly expresses the hardship and cruelty of life from disease, nature, as well as the abuses by those in power and the extent to which the desperate can be driven. In spite of the power of the Catholic Church over people lives, this is still a time of superstition and fear of witches and spirits. Jecks' Author's Notes at the beginning of the book are informative and interesting.

Having a Cast of Characters is such an asset and I'm glad Jecks included it. Even without it, the characters are distinctive and memorable, particularly the two protagonists; Baldwin and Simon. They are friends but, due to their backgrounds and experiences, very different in outlook and attitude. Baldwin is an ex-Templar knight and who's experiences have resulted in his being more accepting and open minded. This book is filled with characters, quite a few are very unpleasant, yet I never identified the killer.

This brings me to the plot. In some ways, I found it so depressing, it was hard to get through. If anything I felt Jecks was so caught up in bringing the period to life, he lost the tautness of the story. The positive side is that there were no portents or clues one could pick up so I certainly never saw the end coming. Justice was served but I wasn't completely happy with the way in which it was done--but that may be just me.

As an author of historical mysteries, Jecks ranks among the best for accuracy. It will be interesting to see how the series progresses.

THE STICKLEPATH STRANGLER (Hist Mys-Sir Baldwin de Furnshill/Simon Puttock-England-Middle Ages/1322) - Good
Jecks, Michael - 12th in series
Headline, ©2001, UK Hardcover - ISBN: 074726919X

For anyone who likes medievel history and mysteries all in one enjoy this book and others of the continuing trials of Michael jecks characters in these books, well written, intriguing and you won't want to put down until you find out results of sir Baldwin and his friend baliff Simon. Excellent reading

Michael Jecks gave up a career in the computer industry when he began writing the internationally successful Templar series. Well all I can say is the Computer Industries loss is the reader's gain. He has now written about a score of the Knights Templar mystery books featuring Sir Baldwin de Furnshill and Bailiff Simon Puttock and there are more to follow. Michael's books are full of intrigue and mystery and they are particularly well researched. Mr. Jecks lives in the area he writes about and I am sure this must assist him a great deal with his background research.

1322, a beautiful summer's day and two children playing on the moors find the body of a young girl. The body has lain there a long time and eventually it is established that it is the remains of Aline, the daughter of Swetricus. She went missing six years ago when she was only 10-years-old.

Sir Baldwin de Furnshill, Keeper of the King's Peace and his close associate and friend the Bailiff Simon Puttock are called to investigate, and to their surprise they discover that Aline is not the only girl to have been found dead in recent years. It would seem that the villagers have been concealing other things apart from someone who has no compunction about killing.

Jenks knows how to write and tell a good story that is historically accurate. A really good "whodunit."