Michael Jecks Books In Order

Publication Order of The Art of Murder Books

Publication Order of Bloody Mary Mysteries Books

Publication Order of Crusader Books

Publication Order of Knights Templar Mysteries Books

Publication Order of Medieval Murderers Books

Publication Order of Vintener Trilogy Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

Publication Order of Short Story Collections

There are millions of examples of the influence of the parents’ occupations on the way that their child will eventually choose to step on and continue. Especially in the United Kingdom of the late twentieth century, it seemed to be prestigious to follow the dynasty of workers in some concrete sphere. However, the treasury of the British literature would have never be supplemented by the dozens of engaging medieval mystery stories if its citizen, native son of the southern England, had complied with the advice of his father and become an actuary. The same would have happened if he had chosen any of the previous jobs that he had – but, luckily, the winding and full of obstacles trail that he had experienced finally led to the literature field and never deviated from this point later. Meet Michael Jecks – an outstanding representative of the modernity who makes the readers plunge into the capturing world of the past.

He was born in 1960 in the county of Surrey, and indeed in no way could any member of his relatives then predict that the new member of Jecks family would appear to show some literary skills. However, there still was something about the Michael the world got to know later that emerged on the earliest stages of his life. The genuine love for the countryside was, for example, certainly induced by the beauty of the places that he lived in and occasionally visited. At least annual Easter trips with his family were the ones that influenced his further desire to move to Devon county and anchor there.

When it was time to decide on the major of his university studies, Michael did not have any ideas other than continuing a business of his father. He just went with the flow, but something went wrong – the boat he was moving by was probably feeling that it did not have to arrive to such destination point. The statistics of population growth rates totally was not the subject of interest of the young Jecks, and neither did economics course. As the consequence, as far as he understood that there were no break in the clouds of these extremely boring subjects, he immediately decided to give up pursuing a degree of an actuary. He was not afraid of doing that, and later said thanks to himself. Indeed, when one of his fans asked him about the advice for the writers that only begin their career, Michael Jecks replied, ‘If you want to write, don’t go to classes, don’t sit and watch TV: just get some paper wherever you are and write. It’s the only way to start!’ Hence, neither education and academic career nor professional growth in the sphere that did not find a feedback from Michael’s heart could not be set as his goals for the future.

To earn for living in the other way, Michael chose the position of the sales representative. The sphere that he became thereby involved in was rapidly developing, and the perspectives that seemingly opened in front of him were just amazing. It was all about selling computer hardware, which, surprisingly, maintained Jecks working there for more than decade. It seemed to be unreal that the sincere attachment to the village would allow a man like him to spend time for the office work, but his inherited persistence and the strong ability to adjust to the life situations probably drove him during that hard time. Among approximately 13 years that he spent in the sales industry, he worked during the equal stretches of 5 years for Wordplex Information Systems at first and Wang Laboratories afterwards. Nevertheless, the hirers did not care that the hard work had truly enervated him, and the lack of respect appeared to be the last thing that Jecks was capable of putting up with in this sphere of occupation. Surprising yet true fact is that the total number of the companies he had been employed by became at long last equal to the number of years he worked that way. Ironically, he had to reach this fortunate point of equality to finally get out of the swamp and release his previously hidden potential.

Hardly did Michael know that he was ready to give a taste of his quality as an author when he stepped in the career. He just wanted to try something different and, either consciously or unconsciously, the choice felt on the literature. It was that crucial 1994 year when he started working on ‘The Last Templar’. Published in the very next year, the story traced back to the early fourteenth century and began a set of narratives about Sir Baldwin Furnshill. For the modern readers, the detective stories that take place earlier than the classical nineteenth century are unfamiliar, which makes the compositions of Michael Jecks a unique phenomenon in literature. Indeed, ‘The Last Templar’, which starts as a typical historical novel, changes its style abruptly when the death of the boy that was claimed to be an accident is being passed into reliable hands of Baldwin. He is not afraid to prove that Sir Puttock, the judge, is wrong in his assumptions and conclusions, and begins his investigation separately to find the evidences of a murder. However, after a while, another ‘accident’ occurs, and the village is scared of the potential ones. The bailliff begins to believe in the idea of murder, but, ironically, Baldwin himself becomes Simon Puttock’s main suspect. From that point, the efforts of two talented individuals become mutual, which results in the fruitful partnership later on. Pretty much the same situation with the death attempted to be loaded on the shoulders of innocent person occurs in ‘The Merchant’s Partner’, the following book of Michael Jecks. Now Furnshill and Puttock are friends, and they decide to set their hands on the mysterious case again.

After that, Michael has produced many stories about the partners, such as ‘The Abbot’s Gibbet’, ‘The Lepers Return’, and ‘Squire Throwleigh’s Heir’. Even though being his earliest works, these books contributed much to his career and became a bright visiting card of him. Jecks even initiated a group of authors called Medieval Murders to create some of his capturing plots.

One Response to “Michael Jecks”

1. Graham: 2 years ago

   Read all the Knights Templar books. Will there be one more at least .. after City of Fiends .. to bring Baldwin’s story to an end? The mention of Baldwin being proposed as the Sheriff of Exeter left the reader thinking there was more to come. Without that reference the series could have ended.

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