THE DEATH SHIP OF DARTMOUTH

Michael Jecks has carved out a reputation for his historical fiction featuring his brace of heroes Sir Baldwin de Furnshill and Baliff Simon Puttock, that reaches below the clean surface of the medieval West coast of England. That The Death Ship of Dartmouth is his 21st book in the series is a testament to his popularity.

Dartmouth is a well-known costal port, and as such prone to piracy and lots of ne’er do wells hang around the stinking dockside. So it’s no wonder that when a man is found dead it appears nothing more than a day to day occurrence. But couple this with an abandoned ship found in the channel, its crew killed or missing, the local fear the Lyme pirates are to blame and more violence is expected.

As this is a Michael Jecks book, you can expect more intrigue than just a simple murder mystery. Roger Mortimer, once a loyal knight had escaped from the Tower of London in 1322 and has allied himself to Queen Isabella of France. Furnshill and Puttock know that messages are being sent to aid their plans to invade England and are asked to investigate. As ever, there a powerful players in the background pulling the strings and the duo need to be as sharp as ever.

The writing is fiercely unsentimental, the plotting complex and the characterisation pleasingly contrary. What impresses the most is the fine details of historical accuracy. There are no easy answers here and it isn’t meant to be so. He makes the reader feel that if there was actually a time machine to travel back in time they’d immediately get into it to savour the period for themselves