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Knights Templar #12
The Sticklepath Strangler (Knights Templar) by Michael Jecks
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. The body is that of ten-year-old Aline, who had gone missing six years earlier. When Sir Baldwin Furnshill and his friend Simon Puttock are called to the scene to investigate, they soon discover that 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, if the rumors are to be believed, a vampire.
Unknown Binding
First published December 1, 2001
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About the author
Michael Jecks
106 books609 followersMichael Jecks is a best-selling writer of historical novels. The son of an Actuary, and the youngest of four brothers, he worked in the computer industry before becoming a novelist full time in 1994
He is the author of the internationally popular Templar series, perhaps the longest crime series written by a living author. Unusually, the series looks again at actual events and murders committed about the early fourteenth century, a fabulous time of treachery, civil war, deceit and corruption. Famine, war and disease led to widespread despair, and yet the people showed themselves to be resilient. The series is available as ebooks and all paper formats from Harper Collins, Headline and Simon and Schuster. More recently he has completed his Vintener Trilogy, three stories in his Bloody Mary series, and a new Crusades story set in 1096, Pilgrim's War, following some of the people in the first Crusade on their long pilgrimage to Jerusalem. He has also written a highly acclaimed modern spy thriller, Act of Vengeance.
His books have won him international acclaim and in 2007 his Death Ship of Dartmouth was shortlisted for the Harrogate prize for the best crime novel of the year.
A member of the Society of Authors and Royal Literary Society, Jecks was the Chairman of the Crime Writers' Association in 2004-2005. In 2005 he became a member of the Detection Club.
From 1998 he organised the CWA Debut Dagger competition for two years, helping unpublished authors to win their first contracts He judged the CWA/Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award for three years.
Michael Jecks is a popular speaker at literary festivals and historical meetings. He is a popular after-dinner and motivational speaker and has spoken at events from Colombia to Italy, Portugal to Alaska.
His own highlights are: being the Grand Marshal of the first parade at the New Orleans 2014 Mardi Gras, designing the Michael Jecks fountain pen for Conway Stewart, and being the International Guest of Honour at the Crime Writers of Canada Bloody Words convention.
Michael lives, walks, writes and paints in North Dartmoor.
He is the author of the internationally popular Templar series, perhaps the longest crime series written by a living author. Unusually, the series looks again at actual events and murders committed about the early fourteenth century, a fabulous time of treachery, civil war, deceit and corruption. Famine, war and disease led to widespread despair, and yet the people showed themselves to be resilient. The series is available as ebooks and all paper formats from Harper Collins, Headline and Simon and Schuster. More recently he has completed his Vintener Trilogy, three stories in his Bloody Mary series, and a new Crusades story set in 1096, Pilgrim's War, following some of the people in the first Crusade on their long pilgrimage to Jerusalem. He has also written a highly acclaimed modern spy thriller, Act of Vengeance.
His books have won him international acclaim and in 2007 his Death Ship of Dartmouth was shortlisted for the Harrogate prize for the best crime novel of the year.
A member of the Society of Authors and Royal Literary Society, Jecks was the Chairman of the Crime Writers' Association in 2004-2005. In 2005 he became a member of the Detection Club.
From 1998 he organised the CWA Debut Dagger competition for two years, helping unpublished authors to win their first contracts He judged the CWA/Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award for three years.
Michael Jecks is a popular speaker at literary festivals and historical meetings. He is a popular after-dinner and motivational speaker and has spoken at events from Colombia to Italy, Portugal to Alaska.
His own highlights are: being the Grand Marshal of the first parade at the New Orleans 2014 Mardi Gras, designing the Michael Jecks fountain pen for Conway Stewart, and being the International Guest of Honour at the Crime Writers of Canada Bloody Words convention.
Michael lives, walks, writes and paints in North Dartmoor.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
December 28, 2008
Although one of the later books in the series, this is the first of Jecks’s medieval murder mysteries that I’ve encountered, and I’m certainly taken with his style of writing in these books. Jecks write sparse, clean prose, often descriptive but with no particular flourish or manner in his writing; the facts are given in descriptive passages or dialogue, and that is all. There is no apparent art in his writing.
But nevertheless he tells a good, plot-heavy story; he succeeds in creating a diverse cast of mostly unlikable characters (including the two leads, Simon and Baldwin, who unfortunately are never sympathetic, not even for a moment, one of the novel’s biggest flaws).
The places, events and descriptions of everyday life in the 14th century are thoroughly researched and seem very authentic and I very much enjoyed all aspects of the mystery, from its initial slow start, through to a mob of angry villagers and the final shocking twist. One complaint with the story is that it reads very slowly, and after an initial exciting (and quite brilliant) opening scene, there’s no more action until 2/3s through the story. Still, it makes for interesting, engrossing reading, and pretty horrific all the way through.
But nevertheless he tells a good, plot-heavy story; he succeeds in creating a diverse cast of mostly unlikable characters (including the two leads, Simon and Baldwin, who unfortunately are never sympathetic, not even for a moment, one of the novel’s biggest flaws).
The places, events and descriptions of everyday life in the 14th century are thoroughly researched and seem very authentic and I very much enjoyed all aspects of the mystery, from its initial slow start, through to a mob of angry villagers and the final shocking twist. One complaint with the story is that it reads very slowly, and after an initial exciting (and quite brilliant) opening scene, there’s no more action until 2/3s through the story. Still, it makes for interesting, engrossing reading, and pretty horrific all the way through.
February 23, 2020
I read until page 142 and decided I didn't want to and didn't have to finish it. The subject was cannibalism in Medieval England. I couldn't get past the subject to want to find out 'who did it'.
August 30, 2010
I would probably like this more if I would read the series in some kind of coherent order and more than two a year or so. I did like it, though; there was plenty of tension in this 14th century village that has people gettin' dead all over the place. It felt a little like the parlour mysteries, actually, like Clue, where everyone keeps dying and you can't get out and one of you has to be the killer. Kind of a believable ending, which is nice, because these types of mysteries can get forced in a hurry. Props to the historical background that Jecks sneaks in without a blaring THIS IS SET IN MEDIAEVAL TIMES AND HERE IS YOUR CONTEXT sign. And I just like Baldwin's character, I think he's well-imagined and very strong, if a bit obviously modern.
Short summary? Medievals and vampires. Some cannibalism. Seriously? What else do you need?
Short summary? Medievals and vampires. Some cannibalism. Seriously? What else do you need?
August 20, 2016
Young girls have been disappearing for years since the famine in Sticklepath. After the disappearance of one, a local man is killed in the belief that he is a vampire and cannibal. But the disappearances continue. After a skull rolls down from a wall along a path, Sir baldwin Furnshill and his friend Simon are called in to aid in the investigation. The evil runs deeper. Fans of the Brother Cadfrael mysteries by Ellis Peters will enjoy this Medieval murder mystery.
March 13, 2008
I get Michael Jeck's books sent to me from by my family in England, as I do not know if you can get them in the States. He does his research. The books are excellent--very well written. I like a good mystery, and these most certainly are!
May 10, 2012
Excellent suspense mystery, history brought to life
An unusual theme
Merged review:
Review already written for this book.
Excellent medieval who done it & you didn't know for sure until the last few pages
History brought to life
An unusual theme
Merged review:
Review already written for this book.
Excellent medieval who done it & you didn't know for sure until the last few pages
History brought to life
October 15, 2010
Another excellent outing by Michael Jecks.
January 24, 2012
This was a fun story from the moment that the local Blacksmith suggested the title to me, while we were sitting in the bar of the Devonshire Inn, Sticklepath.
June 10, 2020
So, I haven't read any other books in this series. I don't think. Why did I start with #12? Well, because at some point in the distant, murky past, my mom bought this and a couple of other medieval mysteries for me at a library book sale or something. When sheltering in place with my folks this spring, I was jonesing for some genre fiction, saw this on the shelf, and thought, why the heck not?
It was...okay? It opens with a guy named Athelhard being ambushed by his whole town, accused of being a vampire, and killed. Some time later, a couple of little girls playing in this extremely poor village called Sticklepath find the skeleton of a missing girl, and some royal officials--Baldwin Furnshill, a former Templar knight and Keeper of the King's Peace, Simon Puttock, a bailiff, and Sir Roger de Gidleigh, a coroner--go out to investigate. They find that there is WAY more going on than one dead girl. Numerous ten- or eleven-year-old girls have gone missing, not just strangled but mutilated and partially eaten. PLUS, a Purveyor (someone who goes around taking stuff for the king's armies) has gone missing, the town chaplain is a miserable drunk, the gross dude staying in the in with them is trying to frame his brother for the murders, the town's foresters are hostile and obviously hiding something, and the whole place just seems to have a cloud of misery and suspicion hanging over it.
Honestly, that made it a little unpleasant to read. Jecks is clearly leaning into the "grim-dark" strand of modern medievalism, and as a result, half the men in this book seem to be creepy rapists and almost everyone else is pretty unlikeable too. And then of course (SPOILER ALERT) the killer turns out to be a young woman who was repeatedly raped by her abusive father who kills and eats these girls out of contempt for the "little bitches," as she refers to them. Great. Oh, and the abusive father got one of these ten-year-olds pregnant. Great. Like...I get that it's, like, a super shocking twist or whatever to have a young rape victim be a murderous cannibal in a town full of rapists and murderers, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. I already disliked most of the characters in this book, you didn't have to completely destroy one of the few sympathetic ones! Yeah, yeah, yeah, unlikeable characters are standard in the murder mystery genre, but I don't know, I feel like your Peter Wimseys or your Cadfaels or whatever have more normal, likeable people in the cast of characters, or at least people who are dislikeable because they're stuffy or rude rather than dislikeable because they (SPOILERS) raped and murdered a nun, or tried to frame their brother for murder so they could screw his (very unwilling!) wife, or framed a guy for murder to appease said blackmailing brother-hater, or just salivate at the idea of getting people hanged and/or crushing a town with poverty, or talk in creepy-ass ways about their underage daughters, or murder a guy because he wasn't born in their village and OBVIOUSLY a guy who wasn't born there must be a vampire cannibal.
As far as the writing goes, it was okay. I don't know if it's really the kind of mystery where you could really solve yourself it via clues dropped, more the kind where they drop a ton of red herrings at you, but I was certainly engaged in trying to find out who the murderer was. I felt like there were a few red herrings that didn't really get resolved--like, what was the business with commenting on the suspiciousness of Miles Houndestail, the first guy to report the corpse to the officials, if he was just going to vanish from the book entirely halfway through? And is the guy who raped and murdered a nun just gonna keep on keeping on in this fucked-up town?--but overall it seemed like most of the threads got wrapped up in a way that made sense. And the whole thing where the guy got buried alive and then dug up because they thought he was a vampire was delightfully creepy. I wasn't super into our heroes, but maybe if I read more of the books I would like them better. I don't know, I wouldn't rush out to buy more books in this series, but I can get them for free through a public library ebook app, and I might read the first book or two to see if I enjoy them.
It was...okay? It opens with a guy named Athelhard being ambushed by his whole town, accused of being a vampire, and killed. Some time later, a couple of little girls playing in this extremely poor village called Sticklepath find the skeleton of a missing girl, and some royal officials--Baldwin Furnshill, a former Templar knight and Keeper of the King's Peace, Simon Puttock, a bailiff, and Sir Roger de Gidleigh, a coroner--go out to investigate. They find that there is WAY more going on than one dead girl. Numerous ten- or eleven-year-old girls have gone missing, not just strangled but mutilated and partially eaten. PLUS, a Purveyor (someone who goes around taking stuff for the king's armies) has gone missing, the town chaplain is a miserable drunk, the gross dude staying in the in with them is trying to frame his brother for the murders, the town's foresters are hostile and obviously hiding something, and the whole place just seems to have a cloud of misery and suspicion hanging over it.
Honestly, that made it a little unpleasant to read. Jecks is clearly leaning into the "grim-dark" strand of modern medievalism, and as a result, half the men in this book seem to be creepy rapists and almost everyone else is pretty unlikeable too. And then of course (SPOILER ALERT) the killer turns out to be a young woman who was repeatedly raped by her abusive father who kills and eats these girls out of contempt for the "little bitches," as she refers to them. Great. Oh, and the abusive father got one of these ten-year-olds pregnant. Great. Like...I get that it's, like, a super shocking twist or whatever to have a young rape victim be a murderous cannibal in a town full of rapists and murderers, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. I already disliked most of the characters in this book, you didn't have to completely destroy one of the few sympathetic ones! Yeah, yeah, yeah, unlikeable characters are standard in the murder mystery genre, but I don't know, I feel like your Peter Wimseys or your Cadfaels or whatever have more normal, likeable people in the cast of characters, or at least people who are dislikeable because they're stuffy or rude rather than dislikeable because they (SPOILERS) raped and murdered a nun, or tried to frame their brother for murder so they could screw his (very unwilling!) wife, or framed a guy for murder to appease said blackmailing brother-hater, or just salivate at the idea of getting people hanged and/or crushing a town with poverty, or talk in creepy-ass ways about their underage daughters, or murder a guy because he wasn't born in their village and OBVIOUSLY a guy who wasn't born there must be a vampire cannibal.
As far as the writing goes, it was okay. I don't know if it's really the kind of mystery where you could really solve yourself it via clues dropped, more the kind where they drop a ton of red herrings at you, but I was certainly engaged in trying to find out who the murderer was. I felt like there were a few red herrings that didn't really get resolved--like, what was the business with commenting on the suspiciousness of Miles Houndestail, the first guy to report the corpse to the officials, if he was just going to vanish from the book entirely halfway through? And is the guy who raped and murdered a nun just gonna keep on keeping on in this fucked-up town?--but overall it seemed like most of the threads got wrapped up in a way that made sense. And the whole thing where the guy got buried alive and then dug up because they thought he was a vampire was delightfully creepy. I wasn't super into our heroes, but maybe if I read more of the books I would like them better. I don't know, I wouldn't rush out to buy more books in this series, but I can get them for free through a public library ebook app, and I might read the first book or two to see if I enjoy them.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 21, 2018
And then again, a book which gets the history right, making you happy you live in the present.
Many books that purport to be placed in the past get the past all wrong. If you were a king, you would be relatively well off, albeit without a decent doctor or dentist, but for the majority of people, life was nasty, brutish and short. Ordinary people had little or no rights. As Lois McMaster Bujold's Capt Cordelia Naismith once drily remarked, democrats have no problem with an aristocracy as long as they get to be the aristocrats. Aren't most of us fantasy readers expected to identify with benevolent kings rather than the downtrodden serfs? Yeah, you read my previous review, right? It would indeed be difficult in the extreme for us to identify with the serfs of bygone ages, so Michael Jecks wisely gives us the viewpoint of Baldwin Furnshill (Sir, no less) so that we aren't faced with the viewpoints of the ordinary villagers of Sticklepath (steep path) -- which would drive us quickly insane.
Did you know that villages were fined if a murder occurred in them? Heavily? Now that's a motive for not reporting it, if there ever was one. However, a blabbermouth traveller happens to be around when some young girls discover an old body in a wall, and the King's men, Sir Baldwin and his friend the bailiff Simon, turn up to investigate.
The mystery is an old-fashioned detective story (ha! In more ways than one) in which you get clues, and you have to deduce the facts logically from what people state. No forensics, no photographs, not even written records. More than one murder is unearthed (cough, cough, no pun intended, I'm sure), and more than one murderer is unmasked, with more than one motive for murder. To Jecks' credit, he manages to explain the surreal motives of people in ye olde times understandable, with good doses of prior exposition neatly woven into the story so that you get your aha moment from the mystery's solution(s).
It's easy to understand the jaquerie after reading a book like this and finding out what a horrible life most people had before the industrial revolution and modern medicine. I'm grateful to live now, and not a few centuries ago, and especially not in rural England.
Recommended for a good mystery as well as insight into ye olde times.
[Reviewed in 2013; uploaded here now]
Many books that purport to be placed in the past get the past all wrong. If you were a king, you would be relatively well off, albeit without a decent doctor or dentist, but for the majority of people, life was nasty, brutish and short. Ordinary people had little or no rights. As Lois McMaster Bujold's Capt Cordelia Naismith once drily remarked, democrats have no problem with an aristocracy as long as they get to be the aristocrats. Aren't most of us fantasy readers expected to identify with benevolent kings rather than the downtrodden serfs? Yeah, you read my previous review, right? It would indeed be difficult in the extreme for us to identify with the serfs of bygone ages, so Michael Jecks wisely gives us the viewpoint of Baldwin Furnshill (Sir, no less) so that we aren't faced with the viewpoints of the ordinary villagers of Sticklepath (steep path) -- which would drive us quickly insane.
Did you know that villages were fined if a murder occurred in them? Heavily? Now that's a motive for not reporting it, if there ever was one. However, a blabbermouth traveller happens to be around when some young girls discover an old body in a wall, and the King's men, Sir Baldwin and his friend the bailiff Simon, turn up to investigate.
The mystery is an old-fashioned detective story (ha! In more ways than one) in which you get clues, and you have to deduce the facts logically from what people state. No forensics, no photographs, not even written records. More than one murder is unearthed (cough, cough, no pun intended, I'm sure), and more than one murderer is unmasked, with more than one motive for murder. To Jecks' credit, he manages to explain the surreal motives of people in ye olde times understandable, with good doses of prior exposition neatly woven into the story so that you get your aha moment from the mystery's solution(s).
It's easy to understand the jaquerie after reading a book like this and finding out what a horrible life most people had before the industrial revolution and modern medicine. I'm grateful to live now, and not a few centuries ago, and especially not in rural England.
Recommended for a good mystery as well as insight into ye olde times.
[Reviewed in 2013; uploaded here now]
May 24, 2024
Now hey anything I say, just know that I jumped into this knowing it was the middle of a series and without any knowledge of Medieval England whatsoever. Basically a bad move. But I got this book for free and it seemed interesting enough. You know what, it was interesting enough for a quick read. But I did not understand about half of what was being said, the language was very foreign to me and without any knowledge about medieval villages (??? = a vill? I guess??), I was doing a lot of skimming.
Good things: I like that there was a list of characters at the beginning of the book. I kept forgetting who was who (there are a LOT of names) so that was helpful. And I liked the overall mystery (cannibal strangler on the loose in the village). I liked that the peasants thought it was some sort of vampire, but that of course the killer was only too human. There was some suspense. I feel like I learned something.
Bad things: aside from general confusion, it really wasn't BAD. It suffers from some early 2000s political opinions but that is to be expected. Can I say how much I HATED that the POV switched around like 50 times per chapter. Sometimes per page. I'm fine with jumping into other character's heads but it was hard to figure out who we were following/listening to at any given time. And I'm not going to nitpick this but why were " written as '. ??? At least there were quotation marks at all I guess.
So yeah not a bad read. But I get so precious little reading time these days that I'm not sure this satisfied me. I have two more books in the series so I'll have to decide whether I want to give Jecks another go. Considering I liked the story but hated the writing style I'm not so sure that will go well for me lol
Good things: I like that there was a list of characters at the beginning of the book. I kept forgetting who was who (there are a LOT of names) so that was helpful. And I liked the overall mystery (cannibal strangler on the loose in the village). I liked that the peasants thought it was some sort of vampire, but that of course the killer was only too human. There was some suspense. I feel like I learned something.
Bad things: aside from general confusion, it really wasn't BAD. It suffers from some early 2000s political opinions but that is to be expected. Can I say how much I HATED that the POV switched around like 50 times per chapter. Sometimes per page. I'm fine with jumping into other character's heads but it was hard to figure out who we were following/listening to at any given time. And I'm not going to nitpick this but why were " written as '. ??? At least there were quotation marks at all I guess.
So yeah not a bad read. But I get so precious little reading time these days that I'm not sure this satisfied me. I have two more books in the series so I'll have to decide whether I want to give Jecks another go. Considering I liked the story but hated the writing style I'm not so sure that will go well for me lol
July 23, 2018
This is the first Michael Jerks book I have read. I was hooked from the first page, I loved all the twists and turns in this historical mystery novel.
The Sticklepath Strangler covers dark topics such as rape, murder and cannibalism. Despite these subjects I did not not find the writing to be too graphic in detail. However I would not recommend for the younger reader.
This is number 12 in the series, however I didnt feel like I had missed out on not reading the previous 11 books first. It had strong developed fictional characters and a well-thought-out plot, mixed in with actual historical events, places and people which made for an excellent read. As for the who done it factor, was it one of the villagers, an outside or even the undead? it kept me guessing and on tenderhooks until the very end.
The Sticklepath Strangler covers dark topics such as rape, murder and cannibalism. Despite these subjects I did not not find the writing to be too graphic in detail. However I would not recommend for the younger reader.
This is number 12 in the series, however I didnt feel like I had missed out on not reading the previous 11 books first. It had strong developed fictional characters and a well-thought-out plot, mixed in with actual historical events, places and people which made for an excellent read. As for the who done it factor, was it one of the villagers, an outside or even the undead? it kept me guessing and on tenderhooks until the very end.
July 7, 2020
When the skull of a girl that disappeared years ago is discovered, Baldwin and Simon set off to discover the killer. Apparently several girls have been killed over theist few years and worse, they appear to have been eaten. I picked up on the killer about 3/4 of the way through, but it was still a shocking conclusion.
Spoiler:
One thing that did bug me was that the entire town knew that one man was raping his daughters and underage girls, but no-one did anything about it
Spoiler:
One thing that did bug me was that the entire town knew that one man was raping his daughters and underage girls, but no-one did anything about it
March 10, 2017
This is another excellent installment of the Knights Templar series. The Sticklepath Strangler provides the reader with a good idea of the hardships of a small vill in the 14th century, just after the famine. The characters are divers and realistic and while not necessarily likeable, they were interesting. The story itself is an exciting and well plotted mystery, with a nice dose of superstition.
July 21, 2024
Young girls are being killed! Is there a serial killer? And judging by the state of the bodies, a cannibal too. There are also rumours of a vampire.
Sir Baldwin Furnshill, Keeper of the King’s Peace, and his friend Bailiff Simon Puttock are summoned to investigate the finding of a skull and become embroiled in the stories of cannibals and vampires.
Sir Baldwin Furnshill, Keeper of the King’s Peace, and his friend Bailiff Simon Puttock are summoned to investigate the finding of a skull and become embroiled in the stories of cannibals and vampires.
March 4, 2018
Another page turner as a murdering cannibal is on the loose in the tiny village of Sticklepath.
Baldwin and Simon are on the case along with Coroner Roger. Simon, however, seemed to be exhausted from the tournament and always in a bad mood.
On to #13.
Baldwin and Simon are on the case along with Coroner Roger. Simon, however, seemed to be exhausted from the tournament and always in a bad mood.
On to #13.
November 7, 2018
The story is not well plotted. Once again Simon and Baldwin (and the Coroner) meander around missing the obvious and not questioning key witnesses until the very end. Jecks does not display a lot of compassion for his characters, especially the women and children who are victims in this story.
November 22, 2019
One of the better entries in the series but not a who done it. You are really not given the information to solve the mystery until near the end, but I read these books for the history and not necessarily for the mystery.
January 2, 2022
I'm new to the Knight's Templar series, but thought I'd give this one a go as the killer is suspected to be a vampire which is right up my street, and I'm a fan of the Cadfael books which are also mediaeval murder mysteries.
This is Jecks' twelfth book in the series and it's clear how at home he is in this world, managing to balance the various parts of the novel expertly.
Our main character Baldwin, Keeper of the King's Peace, is introduced with enough information for new readers to get a gist of his character and previous events without feeling repetitive for long time readers.
Baldwin and his group are a varied and broadly likable bunch, but unlike the others Baldwin, as the Knight Templar of the series title, is a well travelled man and worldly man. The others have the prejudices you would expect of the time but Baldwin's experiences have made him more understanding, though not to a level that feels out of place for the time.
Also introduced is the bureaucracy and hierarchies of the time period that are key to the story, but without the text becoming bogged down with endless descriptions.
The book excels at atmosphere, dragging you into the squelching mud of Sticklepath village and conjuring the small minded insular village attitude (which would rather lynch an 'outsider' from the next village than bring to a known local criminal), as Baldwin and his group investigate the skeleton of young girl. Every villager seems to have some skeleton in their closet (possibly too many though, as some of the suspects start to merge together) and the sense of mistrust and dread is palpable. Despite it being made clear from the outside that this isn't actually a supernatural story, the Sticklepath strangler if definitely a flesh and blood person rather than a vampire, it's one of the few books that I regretted reading at night, repeatedly glancing to the door in the dark, such is the level of unease that he's able to conjure. It's even more impressive that he's able to do this without getting too, for want of a better word, gross, or exploitative. The mystery of multiple children who are raped, murdered and eaten could easily become sensationalist and revel in the violence committed but Jecks only gives us as much as we need to know. This isn't a pleasant world, many things are upsetting, but not the extent that the book is unreadable, and instead makes you desperate to find out who is behind everything so it can be stopped. One particularly memorable passage is one for one of the red herring suspects, who it turns out has committed a similar crime, though not against one of the victims being investigated. No one else ever finds out, as without a proper police force and forensics he's able to get away with the crime never even being discovered. It's upsetting, but emblematic of the setting.
With all these praises it might be surprising that the rating is only a tentative four rather than a solid five. My main issues are based around Baldwin, who I just found a very uninteresting lead. His investigation is intriguing, but there's nothing about him as a character that makes me want me to read more, regardless of his Tragic Backstory TM. Admittedly, this may be due to getting started twelve books in, and if I had the previous eleven books to characterise him he might be more engaging.
My second issue with Hugh is his understanding of the killer, which is where we get into spoiler territory. I won't mention names, but it's will still probably end up being clear who I'm talking about. (Potential spoilers for the rest of the review.)
When the killer is revealed it seems clear that abuse they have suffered previously has affected them. I don't say this to suggest that they should have a get out jail free card, they've been killing and eating children after all, but it seems to be a clear example of a cycle of abuse, where someone acknowledges what has happened is abuse but it has messed them up so much that they go on to commit it themselves. You could reasonably say that people in the 1320s wouldn't have this upstanding of psychiatry, but given Baldwin's history in the Templars you think he'd be able to make the link. For example, when his friend Simon (a generally decent man) sees a disabled villager he immediately thinks that the man must have been punished by God for some sin, an attitude of the time. Baldwin on the other hand has known good men who were horrendously injured in the wars they fought in together so doesn't make the same assumption. It seems Baldwin could take it a step further, and would have likely seen comrades who suffered torture and violence go on to commit horrendous acts which they wouldn't have done before, and that Baldwin could apply that experience to our killer. Instead the killer becomes this almost moustache twirling villain, the abuse they suffered forgotten under their monologuing. Again, I don't say this to excuse their actions, but at the end of the book it does leave Baldwin feeling more sorry for a character he knows is abusive, and completely forgetting the abuse that the killer suffered which undoubtedly contributed to their crimes. Sadly, for me it left a bad taste in the mouth of an otherwise excellent book.
This is Jecks' twelfth book in the series and it's clear how at home he is in this world, managing to balance the various parts of the novel expertly.
Our main character Baldwin, Keeper of the King's Peace, is introduced with enough information for new readers to get a gist of his character and previous events without feeling repetitive for long time readers.
Baldwin and his group are a varied and broadly likable bunch, but unlike the others Baldwin, as the Knight Templar of the series title, is a well travelled man and worldly man. The others have the prejudices you would expect of the time but Baldwin's experiences have made him more understanding, though not to a level that feels out of place for the time.
Also introduced is the bureaucracy and hierarchies of the time period that are key to the story, but without the text becoming bogged down with endless descriptions.
The book excels at atmosphere, dragging you into the squelching mud of Sticklepath village and conjuring the small minded insular village attitude (which would rather lynch an 'outsider' from the next village than bring to a known local criminal), as Baldwin and his group investigate the skeleton of young girl. Every villager seems to have some skeleton in their closet (possibly too many though, as some of the suspects start to merge together) and the sense of mistrust and dread is palpable. Despite it being made clear from the outside that this isn't actually a supernatural story, the Sticklepath strangler if definitely a flesh and blood person rather than a vampire, it's one of the few books that I regretted reading at night, repeatedly glancing to the door in the dark, such is the level of unease that he's able to conjure. It's even more impressive that he's able to do this without getting too, for want of a better word, gross, or exploitative. The mystery of multiple children who are raped, murdered and eaten could easily become sensationalist and revel in the violence committed but Jecks only gives us as much as we need to know. This isn't a pleasant world, many things are upsetting, but not the extent that the book is unreadable, and instead makes you desperate to find out who is behind everything so it can be stopped. One particularly memorable passage is one for one of the red herring suspects, who it turns out has committed a similar crime, though not against one of the victims being investigated. No one else ever finds out, as without a proper police force and forensics he's able to get away with the crime never even being discovered. It's upsetting, but emblematic of the setting.
With all these praises it might be surprising that the rating is only a tentative four rather than a solid five. My main issues are based around Baldwin, who I just found a very uninteresting lead. His investigation is intriguing, but there's nothing about him as a character that makes me want me to read more, regardless of his Tragic Backstory TM. Admittedly, this may be due to getting started twelve books in, and if I had the previous eleven books to characterise him he might be more engaging.
My second issue with Hugh is his understanding of the killer, which is where we get into spoiler territory. I won't mention names, but it's will still probably end up being clear who I'm talking about. (Potential spoilers for the rest of the review.)
When the killer is revealed it seems clear that abuse they have suffered previously has affected them. I don't say this to suggest that they should have a get out jail free card, they've been killing and eating children after all, but it seems to be a clear example of a cycle of abuse, where someone acknowledges what has happened is abuse but it has messed them up so much that they go on to commit it themselves. You could reasonably say that people in the 1320s wouldn't have this upstanding of psychiatry, but given Baldwin's history in the Templars you think he'd be able to make the link. For example, when his friend Simon (a generally decent man) sees a disabled villager he immediately thinks that the man must have been punished by God for some sin, an attitude of the time. Baldwin on the other hand has known good men who were horrendously injured in the wars they fought in together so doesn't make the same assumption. It seems Baldwin could take it a step further, and would have likely seen comrades who suffered torture and violence go on to commit horrendous acts which they wouldn't have done before, and that Baldwin could apply that experience to our killer. Instead the killer becomes this almost moustache twirling villain, the abuse they suffered forgotten under their monologuing. Again, I don't say this to excuse their actions, but at the end of the book it does leave Baldwin feeling more sorry for a character he knows is abusive, and completely forgetting the abuse that the killer suffered which undoubtedly contributed to their crimes. Sadly, for me it left a bad taste in the mouth of an otherwise excellent book.
February 7, 2018
Outstandingly dark historical mystery. Full review at classicmystery.wordpress.com
October 11, 2019
Sticklepath Strangler
Another brilliant chapter in this series, lots of twists and turns and a surprising ending kept you guessing right to the end .
Another brilliant chapter in this series, lots of twists and turns and a surprising ending kept you guessing right to the end .
February 5, 2023
Another good read
Another good read. Mr. Jecks keeps you guessing about who the culprit is right up to the end. The clues are there. The fun is in finding them.
Another good read. Mr. Jecks keeps you guessing about who the culprit is right up to the end. The clues are there. The fun is in finding them.
July 29, 2025
Good book. Necks brought in more aspects of medieval life.
March 20, 2010
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
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
February 23, 2017
As usual a good detective story, set in the 1300's. I particularly like this series because I too live on the edge of Dartmoor and know the places he writes about. He gives a good impression of life in those days without resorting to reams of description that slow the plot down.
June 30, 2018
For my full review click on the link below:
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress...
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress...
January 30, 2015
A gripping read that had me guessing to the last who was the murderer and if there really was a vampire at large.
On reading the author's note at the beginning of the book, I wondered why he needed to make clear that his characters are works of fiction, and that the real-life inhabitants of Sticklepath are actually very nice. Then I read the book... the villagers; they are a real nasty lot. Nearly all inhabitants have some gruesome and dark secret to reveal; whether the horrendous acts they commit are driven through dire poverty, or because of their deep ingrained social or religious prejudice. This is the first Michael Jeck's book I have read. I will definitely be reading more in this series I loved the characters of Simon and Baldwin and look forward to reading more of their escapades.
On reading the author's note at the beginning of the book, I wondered why he needed to make clear that his characters are works of fiction, and that the real-life inhabitants of Sticklepath are actually very nice. Then I read the book... the villagers; they are a real nasty lot. Nearly all inhabitants have some gruesome and dark secret to reveal; whether the horrendous acts they commit are driven through dire poverty, or because of their deep ingrained social or religious prejudice. This is the first Michael Jeck's book I have read. I will definitely be reading more in this series I loved the characters of Simon and Baldwin and look forward to reading more of their escapades.
July 5, 2016
Finished reading " The Sticklepath Strangler " the 12 of the Knights Templar novels by Michael Jecks. Once again another good story. You keep on guessing who could have done the murders right up until the end. Very enjoyable read getting there too.
The vil of Sticklepath believes they are under a curse. 5 years ago a man was killed by some of the villagers because they believed he was an evil man, a vampire. He was accused after one of the village children disappeared. After his death other young girls started turning up dead. Sir Baldwin, Keeper of the Kings Peace and his friend Simon Puttock are called in to find a missing Purveryor and solve the mystery of young girls being murdered.....and partially eaten.
The vil of Sticklepath believes they are under a curse. 5 years ago a man was killed by some of the villagers because they believed he was an evil man, a vampire. He was accused after one of the village children disappeared. After his death other young girls started turning up dead. Sir Baldwin, Keeper of the Kings Peace and his friend Simon Puttock are called in to find a missing Purveryor and solve the mystery of young girls being murdered.....and partially eaten.
January 31, 2015
I picked up this paperback mystery based on the cover, which looked somewhat like the Bayeux Tapestry. I learned my lesson about not judging a book by the cover, because the book itself wasn't great. It's a murder mystery set in a medieval village, and while the idea of that is interesting, the plot dragged on too long and the murders were pretty gruesomely described, which I think might have contributed to some of my nightmares after surgery. Not the best book to read in the hospital.
March 2, 2009
This one dragged a bit for me. There were a few characters that i got tired of. But I still enjoyed it.
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