JECKS Michael Скачать все книги 20 Количество книг

The fifteenth Knights Templar Mystery

It is , and Sir Baldwin de Furnshill and Bailiff Simon Puttock have been granted leave to go on pilgrimage. Together they travel across Europe to Santiago de Compostela. But danger is never far away, and when a beautiful girl is found murdered on a hillside, the friends are among the first on the scene.

Baldwin and Simon lend their investigative skills to the enquiry, headed by the local pesquisidore. But the unexpected appearance of a face from Baldwin’s past could threaten the investigation, as well as the future of Baldwin himself. . .

… Peter Clifford, priest of the bustling town of Crediton in Devonshire, is an anxious man. Already nervous about the impending visit of the Bishop of Exeter, he is disturbed to see that a company of violent mercenaries has taken up residence at the inn. They threaten to make the visit a disaster. Mercenaries are an unpleasant reality in the fourteenth century, but this group seems particularly bent on havoc. Not only do they show no respect to the priest, but other travellers are terrified to come near them, and there's a rumour that a local girl has been seduced by their leader…

Simon Puttock, bailiff of Lydford, and Baldwin Furnshill, Keeper of the King's Peace, are invited to Peter's house to help welcome the bishop, though both have their own reasons to want to avoid this. They welcome the diversion offered by a sudden commotion outside but when they find there's been a robbery among the mercenaries, they are less grateful for the interruption. Then a young girl is discovered murdered, hidden in a chest – and this is only the first of the Crediton killings.

As murder follows brutal murder, Simon and Baldwin must discover the killer's identity before he can murder again – and before their own lives, dangerously caught up in the intrigues, are put at risk…

It’s late spring in 1321 and as Sir Baldwin Furnshill, Keeper of the King’s Peace, prepares for his wedding, he receives the news that one of his guests, Roger, Squire of Throwleigh, has just died.

Roger’s death is sad, though not entirely unexpected for a man of his age, and Sir Baldwin – together with his friend Bailiff Simon Puttock – travels to the funeral. The new master of Throwleigh is little Herbert: five years old, and isolated in his grief, for his distraught mother Katharine unfairly blames him for her husband’s death. At Lady Katharine’s visible rejection of her son, Baldwin feels deeply disturbed about the new heir’s apparent lack of protection. For having inherited a large estate and much wealth, the boy will undoubtedly have made dangerous enemies…

When Herbert is reported dead only a few days later, however, the evidence seems to show that the boy was accidentally run over by a horse and cart. But Baldwin nevertheless suspects foul play. And as he and Simon begin to investigate the facts, they are increasingly convinced that Herbert was murdered.

There is no doubt that there are many in Throwleigh who would have liked to see Herbert dead, but little do Baldwin and Simon realise that their investigation will lead them to the most sinister and shocking murderer they have yet encountered.

It is 1321 and the King's favourite, Hugh Despenser, is corruptly using his position to steal lands and wealth from other lords. His rapacity has divided the nation and civil war looms.

In Tiverton rape and murder have unsettled the folk preparing for St Giles' feast. Philip Dyne has confessed and claimed sanctuary in St Peter's church, but he must leave the country. If he doesn't, he'll be declared an outlaw, his life forfeit.

Sir Baldwin Furnshill, Keeper of the King's Peace, and his friend, Bailiff Simon Puttock, arrive at Lord Hugh de Courtenay's castle at Tiverton for the feast. When a messenger arrives calling for the Coroner, Baldwin and Simon accompany him to view the body of Sir Gilbert of Carlisle, Despenser's ambassador to Lord Hugh. Not far off lies a second corpse: the decapitated figure of Dyne. The Coroner is satisfied that Dyne killed the knight and was then murdered: Dyne was an outlaw, so he doesn't merit the law's attention, but Sir Baldwin feels too many questions are left unanswered. How could a weak, unarmed peasant kill a trained warrior? And if he did, what happened to Sir Gilbert's horse – and his money?

When Baldwin and Simon are themselves viciously attacked, they know that there must be another explanation. A more sinister enemy is at large, someone with a powerful motive to kill. But there are so many suspects…

The Fourteenth Knights Templar Mystery

As descends upon a windswept chapel on the edge of Dartmoor, who could blame young priest, Father Mark, for seeking affection from the local miller’s daughter, Mary? But when Mary’s body, and the unborn child she was carrying, is found dead, Mark is the obvious suspect.

Called to investigate, Sir Baldwin de Furnshill and his friend Bailiff Simon Puttock soon begin to have their doubts. Could one of Mary’s many admirers have murdered her in a fit of jealousy? Or might it be someone even closer to home? By the time their search is over, life for Baldwin and Simon, and their families, will never be quiet the same again.

For Sir Baldwin Furnshill, Keeper of the King's Peace, and his friend, Bailiff Simon Puttock, the Christmas of 1321 looks set to be one of great festivity. As a reward for their services in a previous investigation, they've been summoned to Exeter to receive the prestigious gloves of honour in a ceremony led by the specially elected Boy-Bishop. But the dead man swinging on the gallows as they arrive is a portentous greeting.

Within hours they learn that Ralph – the cathedral's glovemaker and the city's beloved philanthropist – has been robbed and stabbed to death. His apprentice is the obvious suspect but there's no trace of the missing jewels and money. When Peter, a Secondary at the cathedral, collapses from poisoning in the middle of Mass, the finger of suspicion turns to him. Yet if he was Ralph's attacker, where is the money now? And could Peter have committed suicide – or was he murdered, too?

When the Dean and city Coroner ask Simon and Baldwin to solve the riddles surrounding the deaths, they are initially reluctant, believing them to be unconnected. But as they dig for the truth they find that many of Exeter's leading citizens are not what – or who – they first seem to be, and that the city's Christmas bustle is concealing a ruthless murderer who is about to strike again…

Amidst the myth and folklore of Tavistock in 1322, one tale above all others strikes fear into the hearts of the town's inhabitants - that of the murders on the Abbot's Way.

One cold winter, many years ago, a young acolyte eager for distraction led a group of fellow novices in the theft of their abbot's wine store. Later, crippled with guilt and fear of discovery, Milbrosa was driven to commit still more crimes in an effort to disguise his sins. But his soul had been destroyed with his first sip of illicit wine, and, as legend has it, the devil himself appeared to mete out his punishment, leading the unwitting Milbrosa and his cohorts 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, in Tavistock for the coining, is called upon to investigate, but the case seems only to get more complicated with time. 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 turmoil?

As the summer of 1322 brings sun to the Devonshire countryside, it seems that the small village of Sticklepath is destined to remain in darkness. An afternoon of innocent adventure becomes one of gruesome terror when two playmates uncover the body of a young girl up on the moors. As the news spreads through the village, one name is on everyone's lips. The body must be 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 the scene to investigate, but find their progress blocked at every turn. There seems to be an unspoken agreement amongst the villagers to ensure that the truth behind Aline's death is never discovered. But what reason could they possibly have for shielding a murderer?

As the King's men slowly break down the wall of silence they discover that the village has plenty to hide. Aline is not the only young girl to have been found dead in recent years, and it seems that the villagers have been concealing not only a serial killer, but, judging by the state of the girls' bodies, a possible case of cannibalism. Or, if the rumours are to be believed, a vampire! That would certainly explain the haunted looks in the eyes of so many villagers, and the strange voices heard late at night from the Sticklepath cemetery…

As midwife and healer, Agatha Kyteler is regarded as a witch by her superstitious neighbours in the village of Wefford in Devonshire, 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 seem 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 he 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 undercurrents of suspicion, jealousy and disloyalty, emerges. And while Sir Baldwin becomes increasingly distracted by the beauty of a neighbouring merchant's wife, Simon finds himself wondering what happened to the foreigner who visited the normally sleepy area only to disappear shortly after Agatha's death, riding down towards the moors ...

In fourteenth-century Devon, villeins were as much the property of their masters as manor houses and land; runaways were routinely apprehended and brutally punished. But when Peter Bruther flees from the home of Sir William Beauscyr, he has the cunning to set up as a tin miner on the moors, putting himself automatically in the protection of the king, who rakes in a fortune in taxes from the tinners. When the bailiff of Lydford, Simon Puttock, informs Sir William that he has no legal claim on his wayward servant, the knight is furious, fearing an uprising amongst his other men.

Before any dissent can spread, Bruther's body is found hanging from a tree on the moors, and Simon, assisted by former Knight Templar Sir Baldwin Furnshill, finds himself investigating cold-blooded murder. There is no shortage of suspects, amongst them Sir William's two feuding sons, Robert, the heir, with much to lose, and John, a cynical mercenary soldier contemptuous of the lower orders; Sir William himself, who finds the king's support for the tinners intolerable; and Thomas Smyth, a wealthy tinner whose men ruthlessly enforce a protection racket funded by landowners.

In an already tense atmosphere, the pressure is on Simon and Baldwin to unravel the truth before further violence ensues – and the scene is set for an excellent mystery which sheds new light on the people and ways of medieval Devon, and tells a fast-paced and exciting tale of murder, blackmail and revenge.

Moll, a young nun, lies in the infirmary of St Mary’s Priory, Belstone, having been bled to cure a migraine. Left to rest, she is just falling into a doze, smiling as she dreams of her beloved Virgin Mary, when she suddenly awakes, realising in terror that she can’t breathe. But she is too weak to fight for her life…

It’s 1321 and Lady Elizabeth of Topsham, prioress of St Mary’s, is struggling to retain her position in the face of devastating opposition. Not only is St Mary’s in the worst possible state of disrepair due to lack of funds, but Sister Margherita, her treasurer, has accused her of lascivious disregard, claiming that, instead of paying for a new roof, Elizabeth has given money to the new vicar, a man she often sees alone – at night. Many of the nuns are convinced that Margherita would make a better prioress – especially now it has been confirmed that Moll was murdered on her sickbed.

Sir Baldwin Furnshill, Keeper of the King’s Peace, together with his old friend Bailiff Simon Puttock, are summoned immediately by the Bishop of Exeter’s representative to investigate. There is no doubt that the threefold vows of obedience, chastity and poverty are being broken with alarming frequency. When a second nun is murdered, they face their most difficult case yet. The path to the truth twists and turns with the sinister forces of primitive passions and secret ambitions, finally leading them to a dangerous wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Paris, 1314:

Devon, 1316:

The newly appointed Bailiff of Lydford Castle, Simon Puttock, has had little experience of violence. When the charred body of Harold Brewer is found in his burned-out cottage, Simon assumes it's accidental death. It's the new master of the local manor, Sir Baldwin Furnshill, recently returned from Europe, who deduces that Brewer was dead before the fire began.

With the assistance of the astute yet strangely reticent knight, Simon begins to piece together the events of Brewer's last days. Then word comes of another murder, more horrible by far – for in this case, the victim was undoubtedly burned alive. Are the two incidents connected, and will the killers strike again?

It is 1320 and civil war is looming in England as the monk Ralph of Houndeslow rides into Crediton. Ralph faces a daunting task in his new position as Master of St Lawrence’s, the leper hospital. Not only are his charges grievously ill, they are also outcasts of society, shunned and feared by all healthy folk.

The citizens of Crediton have other concerns as well. The murder of goldsmith Godfrey of London and the assault on his daughter Cecily, for instance, crimes all too easily attributed to John of Irelaunde, a womaniser who has in the past tried to defraud the church. Sir Baldwin Furnshill, Keeper of the King’s Peace, is not convinced that John is wicked enough to commit murder, and soon he is following other leads, with the able assistance of 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 …

… Peter Clifford, priest of the bustling town of Crediton in Devonshire, is an anxious man. Already nervous about the impending visit of the Bishop of Exeter, he is disturbed to see that a company of violent mercenaries has taken up residence at the inn. They threaten to make the visit a disaster. Mercenaries are an unpleasant reality in the fourteenth century, but this group seems particularly bent on havoc. Not only do they show no respect to the priest, but other travellers are terrified to come near them, and there's a rumour that a local girl has been seduced by their leader…

Simon Puttock, bailiff of Lydford, and Baldwin Furnshill, Keeper of the King's Peace, are invited to Peter's house to help welcome the bishop, though both have their own reasons to want to avoid this. They welcome the diversion offered by a sudden commotion outside but when they find there's been a robbery among the mercenaries, they are less grateful for the interruption. Then a young girl is discovered murdered, hidden in a chest – and this is only the first of the Crediton killings.

As murder follows brutal murder, Simon and Baldwin must discover the killer's identity before he can murder again – and before their own lives, dangerously caught up in the intrigues, are put at risk…

The year is 1319 and Tavistock's fair has drawn merchants to Devon from all over England and beyond. Keeping the streets clean and the locals in order is no easy task, for the influx of visitors and their money puts temptation in the way of cut-purses and other villains. But no one expects a murder, and butcher Will Ruby is stunned to discover a corpse – a headless corpse at that.

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. The crime falls within the Abbot's jurisdiction, and when he asks Simon and Baldwin to investigate, they can hardly refuse. But with an unidentifiable victim, they're badly hampered in their inquiries.

Nonetheless there's no shortage of suspicious behaviour to spur them on. Elias, the cook near whose shop the gruesome remains were found, clearly has something to hide. A surprisingly aggressive young monk has been behaving in an ungodly fashion. And the town is awash with strangers, any one of whom could be concealing a sinister past.

Can Simon and Baldwin unravel the complex web of intrigue that has brought death to Tavistock, as the undercurrents of anger and violence that lie beneath the bustling activity of the fair grow ever fiercer?