The Merchant's Partner

Rating:
Summary: A good mystery...
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: A good mystery...
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Didn't grab me
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Horrendous and embarrassing (for the author)
Review: Mr. Jecks, in his own Amazon commentary, mentions doing research. I suggest he do some more. His understanding of medieval England and the realities of life therein would shock even the most dimwitted SCA'er.

Where to begin? The errors are so egregious that I'll start by saying that flat stomachs were NOT a feminine beauty ideal at the time, yet Jecks makes much of this and suggests that this flat stomach is part of a female character's sexual allure. Wrong; thank you for playing.

Wolves were rare in England by the time in which this novel is set; I suggest the author take a look at, say, _Man and the Natural World_ by Keith Thomas which states on p. 273 "Already at the beginning of the early modern period, England was distinctive among European countries because she had no wolves...the wolf seems to have survived on the North Yorkshire Moors and other high parts of England until the 15th c."

In writing about pre-industrial societies one should know at least a little about horses. I found myself startled that the writer did not know a trot from a canter (gaits with very different mechanics and speeds) and threw in "horsey" words like "pastern" where they simply didn't go. The most spectacular example of this occurs near the end of the story, where a runaway horse slips on some ice and breaks its leg, which, the author solemnly informs us, is hanging from the forelock. The forelock is part of the mane; it is that tuft that grows between the ears and usually lies along the forehead. Horses can hurt themselves in all sorts of amazing ways but I've never heard of one quite like this. :)

These may sound like pedantic quibbles, but they add up, and for the discerning reader such egregious errors are like repeatedly finding worms in one's salad.I think the author has some potential but he will have to do some more research, I'm afraid.

Rating:
Summary: Solid, enjoyable, but unspectacular
Review: 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.