For the Love of Old Bones & Other Stories by Michael Jecks

Genre: Historical Mystery

Setting: Medieval England

First Sentence: I'll always remember Sir Baldwin de Furnshill as he was in that dingy alley near the inn in Crediton.

This book is a collection of four short stories set in the same time period as Jeck's Last Templar mystery series.

The first story is "The Coroner's Tale".  In this story a young girl is found murdered in an alley in Crediton.  It's up to Sir Baldwin and the Coroner, Sir Eustace of Hatherleigh, to uncover the culprit.  The story is told through the eyes of Sir Eustace.  Together with Sir Eustace we watch Sir Baldwin assemble the clues to solve the crime.

The second story is "For the Love of Old Bones".  In this story a group of traveling monks are attacked on the moors.  During the struggle the Abbot is stabbed to death.  Why was the Abbot the only monk killed in the robbery?  Told through they eyes of one of the monks, we watch Sir Baldwin with his trusted companion bailiff Simon Puttock uncover the identity of the murderer.

The third story is "The Amorous Armourer".  Humphry the Armourer has been found dead in his hall.  Sir Baldwin must question the probable suspects.  Unfortunately, many of the clues point toward the newly appointed Coroner, Sir Gilbert of Axminster.  Can Sir Baldwin sift through the clues to uncover the identity of the killer?

The final story is "A Clerical Error".  A novice of Tavistock Abby has found a dead body out on the moors.  It is one of the King's foresters.  Unfortunately, the novice has violated the law by being on the moors.  Fortunately, wise Brother Peter takes over the investigation.  He knows of several people who had reasons for killing the forester.  It's up to Brother Peter to determine how the forester died and who is responsible for his death.

These stories form a good introduction to Jeck's writing style.  If you like these stories, you might like to read his novels.

I enjoyed these stories.  They were a nice return to Jeck's medieval world

For the Love of Old Bones




The Last Templar - The first book in Jeck's mystery series.




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