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Knights Templar #21
The Death Ship of Dartmouth
The twenty-first novel in Michael Jecks’s medieval Knights Templar series, shortlisted for the Teakston’s Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year, 2007
Autumn, 1324: when a man is found dead in the middle of a Dartmouth road, many assume his demise to be the result of a drunken accident. Meanwhile, a ship is found ravaged by pirates out at sea, the crew killed or captured. Could this be the beginning of a new onslaught, or something even more sinister?
Sir Baldwin de Furnshill has been told of spies and messengers being sent to the great traitor Roger Mortimer in France. If this is true, then civil war in England is surely imminent. Together with his friend, Simon Puttock, Baldwin is tasked by the most powerful men in the Kingdom with uncovering the truth. Fail, and they will be executed. Succeed, and others may be ready to silence them for ever.
Autumn, 1324: when a man is found dead in the middle of a Dartmouth road, many assume his demise to be the result of a drunken accident. Meanwhile, a ship is found ravaged by pirates out at sea, the crew killed or captured. Could this be the beginning of a new onslaught, or something even more sinister?
Sir Baldwin de Furnshill has been told of spies and messengers being sent to the great traitor Roger Mortimer in France. If this is true, then civil war in England is surely imminent. Together with his friend, Simon Puttock, Baldwin is tasked by the most powerful men in the Kingdom with uncovering the truth. Fail, and they will be executed. Succeed, and others may be ready to silence them for ever.
494 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 1, 2006
17 people are currently reading
364 people want to read
About the author
Michael Jecks
121 books622 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 - 25 of 25 reviews
January 24, 2012
My twenty first book in the series, and this was a delight for me. I enjoyed the setting, especially since it involved poring over some very old maps, and I loved the characters. Especially the Coroner, Sir Richard de Welles, who is based upon James Robertson Justice and Brian Blessed. I actually laughed as I wrote him, he was such a delight to conceive and flesh out. And then, when it was all done, this was shortlisted for the Theakstone's prize for the best crime novel of the year. I was pipped at the post, but the book has always appealed, and to be voted as one of the six best novels of the year is pretty good!
September 24, 2019
This later book in the series deals with the pair of Baldwin and Puttock in the port city of Dartmouth. Here they deal with powerful merchants, powerful knights, the shadow of the Despenser, an abjuring criminal, a ghost ship, a French knight fleeing to France, the threat of war, and of course murder.
Which is a lot to put in a book, but Jecks manages it. The most interesting part of each of these is how exactly he's going to manage to get his characters involved, since they're not really from this area nor have any reason to be part of it. But he does so deftly and reasonably, plus introduces coroner Richard DeWells, one of my favorite characters in the series.
But the problem is that there's so much going on, with so many interweaving storylines and characters that you rarely get to actually read about Baldwin (allegedly the main character) and Puttuck. Almost the entire book is various sailors, merchants, shop owners, wives, and so on with their sub plots which barely connect to the main story. So much so that the book kind of bogs down and loses its way, almost as if the author got so enamored of all these other characters he forgot what he was doing.
Unfortunately you see this a lot with successful series, the author gets more carried away with stuff they are interested in and less reined in by the needs of the story and editorial input, so the books get longer and longer and more meandering.
Its still a decent story with nice characterization and interplay but not as tight or well-told as others in the series.
Which is a lot to put in a book, but Jecks manages it. The most interesting part of each of these is how exactly he's going to manage to get his characters involved, since they're not really from this area nor have any reason to be part of it. But he does so deftly and reasonably, plus introduces coroner Richard DeWells, one of my favorite characters in the series.
But the problem is that there's so much going on, with so many interweaving storylines and characters that you rarely get to actually read about Baldwin (allegedly the main character) and Puttuck. Almost the entire book is various sailors, merchants, shop owners, wives, and so on with their sub plots which barely connect to the main story. So much so that the book kind of bogs down and loses its way, almost as if the author got so enamored of all these other characters he forgot what he was doing.
Unfortunately you see this a lot with successful series, the author gets more carried away with stuff they are interested in and less reined in by the needs of the story and editorial input, so the books get longer and longer and more meandering.
Its still a decent story with nice characterization and interplay but not as tight or well-told as others in the series.
April 12, 2018
Most intriguing
Again so many different scenarios, so many actors in the stage and the least likely is the guilty part. Keeps one guessing.
Again so many different scenarios, so many actors in the stage and the least likely is the guilty part. Keeps one guessing.
December 6, 2020
In England, 1324, a dead body is found in a hole in an unrepaired road in Dartmouth on the same day that a half-burnt merchant ship is brought into the harbor. And a knight is asked by his master to go there to find a Frenchman who is fleeing the realm.
You can't judge a book by its cover, but you certainly can by its title. Death Ship of Dartmouth--book 21 in a 32-book medieval mystery series featuring two friends--should be enough to sum up how this book will turn out. This is B material, through and through. The unsatisfying plot is overly convoluted in its telling. Not that it is complex, just that the telling of it is rather meandering and heavy on exposition. And it is dialogue-heavy, while the narration is limited simply to what people are doing, saying, and thinking. Yes, thinking. It's that kind of novel.
Two redeeming features would be the characters and the history. Despite all its many flaws, the characters do have interesting personalities. As it is a multi-character, multi-subplot novel, nothing gets fleshed out very much, but we do come to an understanding of these people, even if the motions they go through are frustrating. The historical setting, too, is surprisingly well done. In fact, I'd say this is its single greatest strength. Not that it is all-encompassing, but it does put the reader firmly in the time and place. The specific geography of the port town not so much so, but certainly life in England in the early 14th century.
This book is not on the level of Patrick O'Brian regarding historical novels, it is not on the level of James Clavell regarding multi-character, multi-subplot writing, and it is not on the level of Martin Cruz Smith regarding dialogue, plot, and setting. If you don't have a strong interest in the Middle Ages, then best give this one a miss. However, if you do, and you're willing to put up with the imperfections of the fiction, then it's worth it. I'll probably give Michael Jecks series on the Hundred Years' War a try next, though, to see how that goes.
You can't judge a book by its cover, but you certainly can by its title. Death Ship of Dartmouth--book 21 in a 32-book medieval mystery series featuring two friends--should be enough to sum up how this book will turn out. This is B material, through and through. The unsatisfying plot is overly convoluted in its telling. Not that it is complex, just that the telling of it is rather meandering and heavy on exposition. And it is dialogue-heavy, while the narration is limited simply to what people are doing, saying, and thinking. Yes, thinking. It's that kind of novel.
Two redeeming features would be the characters and the history. Despite all its many flaws, the characters do have interesting personalities. As it is a multi-character, multi-subplot novel, nothing gets fleshed out very much, but we do come to an understanding of these people, even if the motions they go through are frustrating. The historical setting, too, is surprisingly well done. In fact, I'd say this is its single greatest strength. Not that it is all-encompassing, but it does put the reader firmly in the time and place. The specific geography of the port town not so much so, but certainly life in England in the early 14th century.
This book is not on the level of Patrick O'Brian regarding historical novels, it is not on the level of James Clavell regarding multi-character, multi-subplot writing, and it is not on the level of Martin Cruz Smith regarding dialogue, plot, and setting. If you don't have a strong interest in the Middle Ages, then best give this one a miss. However, if you do, and you're willing to put up with the imperfections of the fiction, then it's worth it. I'll probably give Michael Jecks series on the Hundred Years' War a try next, though, to see how that goes.
January 15, 2020
The Death Ship of Dartmouth is another of Michael Jecks medieval mystery novels. Set in 1324 a series of murders and missing sailors confront Bailiff Simon and Sir Baldwin with complex challenges. Assisted by Richard the Coroner they solve all. Rather long and tedious this one lacks the energy and drama of Jecks’ other efforts.
January 18, 2020
One of Jecks' better works but it was a long depressing read. Baldwin and Simon try to live their lives and do their jobs but the political intrigue of the day sucks them in anyway. Sir Richard is a nice addition to the characters.
February 7, 2018
One of the strongest entries in this fantastic series. Full review at classicmystery.wordpress.com
August 15, 2019
Includes some interesting assessments of how a person might feel after being accused of rape; and how easy it is for a person to get drawn into / back into gambling.
February 23, 2017
Baldwin and Simon a good pair of investigators on the year 1324. A great read.
August 6, 2023
Felt like I was hanging on for dear life with this one, trying to keep track of what on earth was going on. Weirdly, I had a good mental picture of the setting, having lived in Dartmouth for a number of years. The story was not that flash, but It's partly my own fault for joining in the series at book #21
June 5, 2012
Once again Sir Baldwin and friend Simon get thrown into a complicated murder investigation in the port of Dartmouth. This time it is both complicated and personally dangerous as they come up against an agent of the evil Despenser, and find out Bishop Walter is not the friend Baldwin thought him to be.
This is one of the most complex of the series so far. Not only do you have murders piling up but you have the additional political complications. The stories are entering the most dangerous times of Edward II's reign and so far Sir Baldwin has stayed out of the political fray. Given what will happen in a few years I'm hoping he can continue!
We are also introduced to the coroner Sir Richard de Welles - just close your eyes and picture Brian Blessed. I love this character, though friend Simon Puttock does not.
The bottom line is this is the longest and most complex of the series so far and while Sir Baldwin and Bailiff Puttock are not in the story near as much as I wanted them to be I really liked the book. On to the next!!
This is one of the most complex of the series so far. Not only do you have murders piling up but you have the additional political complications. The stories are entering the most dangerous times of Edward II's reign and so far Sir Baldwin has stayed out of the political fray. Given what will happen in a few years I'm hoping he can continue!
We are also introduced to the coroner Sir Richard de Welles - just close your eyes and picture Brian Blessed. I love this character, though friend Simon Puttock does not.
The bottom line is this is the longest and most complex of the series so far and while Sir Baldwin and Bailiff Puttock are not in the story near as much as I wanted them to be I really liked the book. On to the next!!
May 31, 2016
Some long running detective series may claim to be "stand-alones" but they definitely are not.
Death Ship of Dartmouth presents this problem as it remains a tricky one to get into, with its hugely complex cast to sort out when one is unfamiliar with impinging past events in the series. It seemed obvious early on that I had jumped into a long standing and detailed story line accumulated over many books and I was going to be lucky to get out of it all still aware of who exactly the protagonist (or two) was/were.
The characterisations however were entertaining and the micro-relationships even more diverting. Even so, three quarters of the way through, there seemed to be a lot of circular movement between evil ship and shore in a plot vortex that stalled forward action.
By then it was clear to me that this was NOT the ideal choice for a first foray into Jecks' oevre...though now I read some of the other title reviews I expect I will return to the beginning of this series to sample earlier titles and try again.
Death Ship of Dartmouth presents this problem as it remains a tricky one to get into, with its hugely complex cast to sort out when one is unfamiliar with impinging past events in the series. It seemed obvious early on that I had jumped into a long standing and detailed story line accumulated over many books and I was going to be lucky to get out of it all still aware of who exactly the protagonist (or two) was/were.
The characterisations however were entertaining and the micro-relationships even more diverting. Even so, three quarters of the way through, there seemed to be a lot of circular movement between evil ship and shore in a plot vortex that stalled forward action.
By then it was clear to me that this was NOT the ideal choice for a first foray into Jecks' oevre...though now I read some of the other title reviews I expect I will return to the beginning of this series to sample earlier titles and try again.
June 10, 2011
I was slow getting into this book taking place in Dartmouth, near the mouth of the Dart River in SW England in 1324. However, once I got the characters straightened out, it moved much faster. First, a dead man is discovered in a hole in the road and another on a ship which was brought to the harbor after it was found burning with no crew. A French friend of Queen Isabella, Pierre, is running for his life, chased by the haughty Sir Andrew, a liege of the powerful Lord Despenser, favorite of King Edward II. There is a lot of politics in the air as Bailiff Simon Puttock, Sir Baldwin, and the Coroner, Sir Richard de Welles try to solve the mysteries, rescue Pierre, and battle the bad guys.
July 17, 2015
Amidst political turmoil, a man has been found dead in the road and a ghost ship has been found at sea. Meanwhile, the rebel Roger Mortimer has been sending out spies, threatening civil war.
I read this rather quickly while on holidays and the details were quickly forgotten. But I do remember quite enjoying it, despite being a little disconcerted by all the rape (and there truly is a lot of rape!).
Death Ship is a solid mystery with strong characters, and the historical fiction aspect is well executed. The violence, particularly against women, is realistic without being gratuitous.
All in all, a well-written novel and an excellent addition to any historical mystery collection.
I read this rather quickly while on holidays and the details were quickly forgotten. But I do remember quite enjoying it, despite being a little disconcerted by all the rape (and there truly is a lot of rape!).
Death Ship is a solid mystery with strong characters, and the historical fiction aspect is well executed. The violence, particularly against women, is realistic without being gratuitous.
All in all, a well-written novel and an excellent addition to any historical mystery collection.
January 28, 2011
A medieval murder mystery with enough salty characters, dastardly deeds and intriguing real life characters to keep your attention. Whilst not mindblowing, it's not bad, and being set in my part of the world (though long before I came along) gave it some bonus points.
Mostly noticeable for pricking my interest in Queen Isabella, King Edward and the Despensers, and making me want to go and find out more about them.
Mostly noticeable for pricking my interest in Queen Isabella, King Edward and the Despensers, and making me want to go and find out more about them.
September 3, 2007
Another pretty good read from Michael Jecks. One of his mysteries that take place in 14th century england featuring friends Bailiff Simon Puttock and Sir Baldwin de Furnshill, a keeper of the Kings peace. I've read a lot of these books and, frankly, I'm starting to tire of them a bit, but I still enjoyed this one. The first in the series "Last Templar" hooked me and i'm still hooked.
April 27, 2009
book 21
Here the duo go on a pilgrimage and Jecks gets us under the skin of pilgrimages at that period of time, the devout, the crooks and those who seek to exploit anyone they can. Also it doesn't paint a rosy picture, there is corruption in high places, there is dirt, disease and death, and there is shipwreck en route too
Here the duo go on a pilgrimage and Jecks gets us under the skin of pilgrimages at that period of time, the devout, the crooks and those who seek to exploit anyone they can. Also it doesn't paint a rosy picture, there is corruption in high places, there is dirt, disease and death, and there is shipwreck en route too
February 25, 2012
Bailiff Simon Puttock is now settled in Dartmouth, his latest assignment. Full of intrigue, Simon quickly becomes involved in investigating 2 deaths. This one involves court intrigue, the coroner, a knight representative from Despenser, a fleeing Frenchman, and lately...Sir Baldwin. Twists and turns everywhere.
July 28, 2011
One of the best in the series
April 7, 2012
Kind of difficult to keep all the characters straight - especially when so many names start with "H".
May 30, 2015
It was Ok
November 29, 2015
An entangled plot from the master of Medieval mysteries.
February 24, 2016
Good, but perhaps not the best Jeck's I've read to date and I preferred my ending :-)
August 20, 2016
Good, exciting, fast-paced book, but too many characters and a bit too much going on.
December 13, 2018
With each book further in the series that you get you will find less and less about the murders and more and more politics. I know that the time was a terrible time in England with Hugh Despenser ruling the country with a tight fist, but I did not start reading these books because of Edward and Despenser. This book starts Jecks trend toward 14th century Political Thriller, which I am not a fan of but I do like his Characters.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews