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Knights Templar #13
The Devil's Acolyte
Amidst the myth and folklore of Tavistock, one tale above all others strikes fear into the hearts of the townspeople—that of the murders on the Abbot’s Way. One cold winter, many years ago, a young acolyte led a group of fellow novices in the theft of their abbot’s wine store. Later, consumed by guilt and fear of discovery, he was driven to commit still more crimes. As legend has it, the devil himself meted out his punishment, leading the acolyte and his cohorts to their deaths on the treacherous Devon moors. Now, in the autumn of 1322, it looks as if history is repeating itself. Abbot Robert has found his wine barrel empty, and a body has been discovered on the moors. Furnshill and Puttock are called upon to investigate, but the case seems only to become increasingly complicated. It soon becomes apparent that it’s not just wine that’s missing from the abbey—and that the body on the moors isn’t the last.
420 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 1, 2002
19 people are currently reading
344 people want to read
About the author
Michael Jecks
121 books620 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 - 30 of 32 reviews
March 3, 2019
Damn, I finished this. Why?
It's part of a series set in 14th century northern England, in and around a semi-fictional abbey.
The writing's stumbling, the characters shallow and self-contradictory, the plotting clump-booted, the "mysteries" boring or inconsequential, the murders hardly worth examining, the subplots less intriguing than our downtown gossip, every significant detail repeated at least five times yet "discovered" by the investigators in wide-eyed amazement, the killer finally identified in a two-paragraph throwaway that I almost missed, as though the author didn't care any more than I did.
Etc.
The author's intro shows that he does care about the history and legends involved; that made me want to like his 395-page bumble. I tried to. I couldn't. Yet I kept reading. Why?
I have at least 40 books I've bookmarked – all of which must have gripped me at some point – but this is the one I chose to finish last night. Why?
If you look at 19th-century English-language lit, Austen, Dickens, Trollope and Twain are among the few who were both popular at the time and have survived. We can't point to most authors who were best sellers back then, yet Moby Dick got rotten reviews and was otherwise overlooked. Robert W. Chambers wrote reams of popular crap, yet The King in Yellow, ignored at the time, is all of value that remains.
Devils' Acolyte is OK as a fast read, I guess (my wife, who reads three times as fast as I do, is fine with it), but it will fall into oblivion as fast as a bus transfer.
It's part of a series set in 14th century northern England, in and around a semi-fictional abbey.
The writing's stumbling, the characters shallow and self-contradictory, the plotting clump-booted, the "mysteries" boring or inconsequential, the murders hardly worth examining, the subplots less intriguing than our downtown gossip, every significant detail repeated at least five times yet "discovered" by the investigators in wide-eyed amazement, the killer finally identified in a two-paragraph throwaway that I almost missed, as though the author didn't care any more than I did.
Etc.
The author's intro shows that he does care about the history and legends involved; that made me want to like his 395-page bumble. I tried to. I couldn't. Yet I kept reading. Why?
I have at least 40 books I've bookmarked – all of which must have gripped me at some point – but this is the one I chose to finish last night. Why?
If you look at 19th-century English-language lit, Austen, Dickens, Trollope and Twain are among the few who were both popular at the time and have survived. We can't point to most authors who were best sellers back then, yet Moby Dick got rotten reviews and was otherwise overlooked. Robert W. Chambers wrote reams of popular crap, yet The King in Yellow, ignored at the time, is all of value that remains.
Devils' Acolyte is OK as a fast read, I guess (my wife, who reads three times as fast as I do, is fine with it), but it will fall into oblivion as fast as a bus transfer.
December 13, 2020
I have read this entire series and enjoyed most of the books; would give them 4 star ratings. Or five stars for Book 12, The Sticklepath Strangler.
This one does not rise to that level... it is much, much too long. We find out far too much about secondary characters and there are too many of them. The secondary plots go on, and on, and on ...
The investigation, and the primary characters, are the best aspects of the books. In this one, Sir Baldwin Furnshill's involvement accounts for perhaps 25 percent of the text. Simon Puttock is depicted as a weak-kneed worrier. Definitely not Jecks' best work.
This one does not rise to that level... it is much, much too long. We find out far too much about secondary characters and there are too many of them. The secondary plots go on, and on, and on ...
The investigation, and the primary characters, are the best aspects of the books. In this one, Sir Baldwin Furnshill's involvement accounts for perhaps 25 percent of the text. Simon Puttock is depicted as a weak-kneed worrier. Definitely not Jecks' best work.
December 29, 2012
It’s the Fall of 1322 and Bailiff Simon Puttock and Sir Baldwin Furnshill are embarking on another case involving a series of murders on and around Dartmoor in Devon, England. The book is THE DEVIL’S ACOLYTE (ISBN 978-0747267256, paperback), number 13 in Jecks’ medieval mystery series.
A tin miner is found murdered on Dartmoor after flashing money he should not have had. Who did it? The suspects are numerous. Another miner is murdered in Tavistock near his home. Who did it? Are Simon and Baldwin dealing with a serial killer? What about the Swiss pewter maker and his entourage? How does the King’s recruiter fit into the murders? What about the thefts of pewter and wine at Tavistock Abbey? Are they related of the murders?
Jecks continues to weave intricate plots that are fun to try to solve. His protagonists are people you feel like meeting and talking to. His principal villain in this mystery is one of the most hateful people in the series. You feel like booing and hissing whenever he enters the story. If you close your eyes, you can see Dartmoor and its environs based on the descriptions by Jecks. Despite your best efforts, you will learn something about medieval British history and find that you are enjoying reading history.
Go. Buy. Read.
A tin miner is found murdered on Dartmoor after flashing money he should not have had. Who did it? The suspects are numerous. Another miner is murdered in Tavistock near his home. Who did it? Are Simon and Baldwin dealing with a serial killer? What about the Swiss pewter maker and his entourage? How does the King’s recruiter fit into the murders? What about the thefts of pewter and wine at Tavistock Abbey? Are they related of the murders?
Jecks continues to weave intricate plots that are fun to try to solve. His protagonists are people you feel like meeting and talking to. His principal villain in this mystery is one of the most hateful people in the series. You feel like booing and hissing whenever he enters the story. If you close your eyes, you can see Dartmoor and its environs based on the descriptions by Jecks. Despite your best efforts, you will learn something about medieval British history and find that you are enjoying reading history.
Go. Buy. Read.
January 24, 2012
This title was the thirteenth in the series, and I wanted to incorporate some of the lore and mystery of the moors, so I looked back at some of the ancient legends, and came upon Milbrosa and Tavistock Abbey.
Anyone who has read a few of my books will know how fond I am of the abbey, and it seemed to me that the legend deserved being used as the basis of a book. It was thoroughly enjoyable, mainly because for this one I was able to wander for hours over the Abbot's Way down to the south of the moors, and it started my love of wild camping!
Anyone who has read a few of my books will know how fond I am of the abbey, and it seemed to me that the legend deserved being used as the basis of a book. It was thoroughly enjoyable, mainly because for this one I was able to wander for hours over the Abbot's Way down to the south of the moors, and it started my love of wild camping!
August 25, 2016
While the abbot is away, his storeroom is plundered and guests of the abbey are robbed. Bailiff Simon Puttock is so disturbed by events at home that he forgets his official hammer when attending the tin coinage at Tavistock. Then a poor tin miner is discovered murdered. Sir Baldwin Furnshill is called in by the Abbot to help resolve the murder. A good read of Medieval times in the vein of the Brother Cadfrael mysteries.
March 1, 2016
So many colorful characters in this story, including numerous suspects implicated in more than one murder. These little towns keep Bailiff Simon Puttock busy, along with his friend and former Knight Templar, Sir Baldwin Furnshill. If you enjoy the Ellis Peters series of Brother Cadfael mysteries, you'll definitely enjoy this series!
November 12, 2019
This is not my favorite in this series, but it's still a good story. I would say I didn't like it as well because I got a bit confused by its large cast of characters. But once I got them sorted out (more or less) I enjoyed it. As with the other books in this series, it's a grim reminder of the precarious nature of life in that period.
March 13, 2008
I get Michael Jeck's books sent to me from by my family in England, as I do not know if you can get them in the States. He does his research. The books are excellent--very well written. I like a good mystery, and these most certainly are!
March 9, 2011
Love the twists and turns in these books. It's fascinating to read about the period of time and how the law worked.
May 14, 2012
Exceptionally good mediaeval suspense & mystery full of intrigue.
February 15, 2022
A tangled web!
As always, I enjoyed the tale! The writing is excellent & the characters compelling. What a web of intrigue existed I Tavistock Abbey! So many shared in the guilt & yet the root of all the evil was stretched forth from a violent past. That evil thread ensnared the innocent & guilty. But finally the murders & thefts were avenged in the death of the one true devil in the tale!
As always, I enjoyed the tale! The writing is excellent & the characters compelling. What a web of intrigue existed I Tavistock Abbey! So many shared in the guilt & yet the root of all the evil was stretched forth from a violent past. That evil thread ensnared the innocent & guilty. But finally the murders & thefts were avenged in the death of the one true devil in the tale!
November 3, 2025
This is a decent installment, the 13th in this particular series. I have to say it's not the best example of the genre, the issue with this novel is that it is too long, the plot doesn't hang together particularly well and the actual action is underwhelming. The novel has good narrative description and it is certainly readable but there are perhaps too many characters, slighly dull sub plots and none of it is particularly clever per se.
May 13, 2020
Plenty of suspects and motives and a satisfying conclusion. If nothing else, reading about the hardships suffered by tin miners, those conscripted to fight in the king's wars, servants, and most women, could make you feel that your life, even in a time of self-quarantine, isn't bad at all.
October 9, 2018
Complex and bloody medieval mystery. There were times when I wasn't sure this was ever going to all come together, but it reached a satisfying conclusion after all.
January 4, 2019
Interesting plot idea but Jecks wanders around with the narrative. His writing would be better if he would be more concise.
Read
March 1, 2021I enjoyed this book. Again, Jecks shines at bringing characters to life in a plot that keeps twisting.
December 14, 2022
suitable airport read
dnf
December 22, 2022The writing style is so dense. I wanted something lighter
May 22, 2024
Enjoyed this although you do have to keep checking back to see who's who. I haven't read any other of Michael Jecks books so this works as a stand alone.
December 13, 2025
Good story
September 15, 2016
Finished reading " The Devil's Acolyte " the next novel in the Knight's Templar novel. It was pretty good. Every book has been enjoyable so far. Full of details and insight to the way people lived in the early 1300s.
A body has been found on the moors after the Abbot's wine has been stolen. It seems as if superstition is rearing its head. It reminds people of a story about a man who stole wine from the abbot and the devil dragged him into the moors. Bailiff Simon Puttock of Lydford once again gets the call to solve the mystery. Simon feels ill at ease though. Fearing that the Abbot has been thinking lowly of Simon's talents, he feels that he is going to lose his place. Simon's believes his fears are true when Abbot Robert calls in Sir Baldwin in for a secret assignment. The murder on the moors and the wine theft may be connected after all but it isn't the devil who is responsible...the killer is mortal.
A body has been found on the moors after the Abbot's wine has been stolen. It seems as if superstition is rearing its head. It reminds people of a story about a man who stole wine from the abbot and the devil dragged him into the moors. Bailiff Simon Puttock of Lydford once again gets the call to solve the mystery. Simon feels ill at ease though. Fearing that the Abbot has been thinking lowly of Simon's talents, he feels that he is going to lose his place. Simon's believes his fears are true when Abbot Robert calls in Sir Baldwin in for a secret assignment. The murder on the moors and the wine theft may be connected after all but it isn't the devil who is responsible...the killer is mortal.
July 27, 2009
In this continuing series of mystery novels set in Devon, England in the 1300's Simon feels like he is not appreciated by his boss. Through this we discover how little impact people had over their own lives and how something like this could devastate the family. Simon is wrong though, his boss just thought he was over-worked. Two people are killed and wine is stolen. Simon is supposed to find out who did it, with the help of his friend, Sir Baldwin. They do. The why is always the surprising thing.
March 5, 2012
You can count on Michael Jecks to produce an intricately plotted, well written, well researched medieval mystery. His characters are memorable, and it is interesting to see how the continuing characters develop from one book to the next. I will have to read the next one soon (will I ever catch up in this series?). I must say, tho, that this novel is especially bloody...
July 7, 2020
The backstory of the thieving monk was brilliant and chilling, but I didn't enjoy the story quite as much as usual. I thought that Simon was unnaturally whiny, thinking that the Abbott was going to fire him, and then he took it out on poor Baldwin! Again, I figured out the killer, but mostly due to having binge read these... EVERYONE has something to hide!
November 18, 2012
This was reminiscent of the Ellis Peters mysteries, as it takes place at a monastery in the south of England in the middle ages. Jecks does a good job of capturing the daily life of the abbey, the village and their inhabitants, and the mystery is serviceable, but this didn't grab me too much.
August 8, 2015
Michael Jecks' series gets better at this stage with every book. It's always a pleasure to watch a writer develop over the course of a career and, a third of the way through this series, his plots are getting tighter and his characters are more fluid and well-drawn.
July 25, 2012
Way too many characters that need to be introduced make the first third of the book very cumbersome.
April 27, 2009
book 13
Read
April 25, 2012Takes a bit of time to get into it.
November 12, 2013
Another satisfying read from Michael Jecks.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews