A Moorland Hanging

Knights Templar #3

by Michael Jecks

The Knights Templar They had all joined taking three poverty, chastity, and obedience…for they were warrior monks, dedicated to the protection of pilgrims in the Holy Land -- until stories spread by an avaricious king who wanted their wealth for his own destroyed the order. There was one knight, however, who escaped the stake, vowing justice as he watched his innocent brothers die. A Dark Justice Cold-blooded murder has transformed Simon Puttock's official obligation into something horrid -- and he will need the able assistance of his friend, Sir Baldwin Furnshill, to draw a criminal out. A former Knight Templar, Sir Baldwin knows much of duty and servitude -- and of evil freely indulged in the name of godliness or greed. Now justice must be served,even if their search exposes extortion, foul corruption,rule by fear…and killers willing -- even eager -- to shed more blood.

Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction, Historical Mystery, Fiction, Medieval, Historical, Crime

388 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Michael 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.

Reviews

[Michael Jecks · Rating 5 out of 5]

While hunting around for themes for a new story, I hit upon the idea of making use of the Stannaries.
In the medieval period, the King owned all tin-mining on Dartmoor. He made a fortune from the mines, and gave miners extensive rights and benefits. They could dig anywhere where they thought there could be tin under the surface. If their extensive workings required plentiful supplies of water to wash away the soil, they could divert any water courses they wanted. And at a time when peasants were classed as serfs, slaves in a feudal society, who must remain with the land, while a man who escaped to a city and remained free for a year and a day could win his freedom, a serf who made it to the moors, who took up a shovel and axe and declared himself a miner, was instantly free. He was a King's worker, and thus free from all previous obligations.
It's no surprise that the locals looked on tin miners as a Mafia who used their positions to extort money from others. And disputes were rife.
This book looks at all those on the moors - the new runaway serf, the rich miner who owned several large pits, the men who smelted and worked the metal. And when a murder was discovered, the moors themselves become an additional, savage character.

[Christopher Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read nearly all of the Templar books that are out at this point, although in jumbled, random order. this fills in an early gap in the series for me when Baldwin and Puttock are younger men.

The story involves a curious English system at the time in which Tin miners on the Moors are so valuable to the King that they are protected from many usual laws and enjoy significantly greater freedoms than usual. Unfortunately, this causes clashes with the local manors that ostensibly protect them, and here the story takes place.

A servant (Villein) of the local knight in his fortress escapes and becomes a Tinner, which makes him untouchable by Sir William Beauscyr, a source of no small frustration. Other complications arise, which brings Baldwin Furnshill with his friend Simon Puttock into the area to adjudicate the situation.

When the Tinner is found dead, things get even more complicated.

There's plenty of fascinating history and culture of Medieval England in the book to keep historical fans happy, but many of the characters feel kind of flat and indistinguishable, which hurts the narrative. Further, there's a lot of what feels like padding, the pacing doesn't seem to be driven by the story, but meanders and stalls in places, as if the writer felt the need to stretch out the tale longer.

Its still a good read, but you'll have to stick with it because it took a good third of the book to really grasp my attention. The solution took be a bit by surprise (I had another culprit and scenario in mind) but it made sense.

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the mystery was only so-so and the characters a bit boring, the history of the legal system and the rights of the tin miners was fascinating.

[Truls Ljungström · Rating 3 out of 5]

En underhållande berättelse, med ett slut som inte var alldeles självklart, men som fungerade i den konstruerade världen.

[Simon Mcleish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published on my blog here in August 1998.

A Moorland Hanging is the third of Jecks' Devonshire novels featuring Simon Puttock and Sir Baldwin Furnshil. Like P.C. Doherty, Simon Jecks is an author who really knows something about the medieval period. He is perhaps more interested in institutions than Doherty, and this combines with the country setting to naturally remove some of the unpleasantness of the medieval world (to a modern reader) which comes to the fore in Doherty's series of the seamier side of London life.

The novel has as its central theme the clash between forest law and common law which was an important part of the medieval English scene, where much of the land was designated "royal forest", to be the private hunting ground of the king and his friends. Although open land rather than woodland, Dartmoor was a forest, and this led to clashes between the tin miners who worked on the moor (who paid a special tax to the king, and were able to run their own affairs with their own courts in return) and local landowners. The miners were able to prevent the use of particular pieces of land for farming by marking them out as places where tin was mined; this privilege could be (and was) used to terrorise the landowners, who were unable to retaliate against the miners because they had the king's protection.

The particular dispute around which the plot turns concerns the escape of a villein, Peter Bruther, from the Beauscyr family demesne. By declaring himself a miner, he puts himself beyond the landowners' normal methods for forcing a serf to return and causes a confrontation between the Beauscyrs and the miners' leader, Thomas Smyth. When Bruther is discovered hanged on a tree on the moor, as though killed judicially, the confrontation threatens to escalate into a major incident; hence the involvement of Simon Puttock, the king's bailiff, and his friend Sir Baldwin Furnshill.

A Moorland Hanging is a fascinating novel, particularly in the way it makes the frequently obscure workings of the medieval legal system not only clear but interesting. The characters do tend rather to the two dimensional, especially those - paradoxically - that you would expect to be best fleshed out, the series characters Puttock and Furnshill.

[Dyana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would classify this series as a Medieval murder mystery/historical fiction. The story takes place in the early 1300's in the moors near Devon, England. The book is slow and rambles at times, but also provides a look into medieval history, the stannaries or tin camps, and the legal system that prevailed. There are vivid descriptions of the people, their culture, food, drink, the moors, class distinctions, attitudes, etc. One of the main characters is the moors themselves. There are a plethora of suspects that need to be questioned about their alibis. What prevented me from giving four stars is that the only avenue to finding the murderer is by interrogating everyone; and in doing so, clues or unanswered questions are raised and our sleuths continually need to revisit a suspect to do more questioning. There are also lots of repetition of speculation on who and how the murder happened as well as many descriptions of facial expressions and demeaners. This slows down the story and is redundant.

Some history to understand the story: A king needs money to rule. One way to get it is to own all the tin mining land on the moors and tax the miners. But the king also gave the miners extensive privileges and benefits in mining his tin. Some of the privileges included digging anywhere even on other landowners property, they could divert rivers and streams when needed, having their own laws and parliament, and villeins or serfs could run away from their masters and flee to the moors where they set themselves up as tin miners and then were under the king's protection. Thus the landowner had no legal claim on the return of his villein. If not for the legality, the villein would be brutally punished when caught.

Our intrepid sleuthing duo is Simon Puttock, the bailiff of Lydford Castle and his tag-along partner Sir Baldwin Furnshill, the Master of Furnshill Manor and a former Knight Templar. They make a good crime solving team because Simon is good at interrogating suspects and Baldwin is good at reading clues. They are summoned to the moors by Sir William Beauscyr to adjudicate a situation involving Beauscyr's villein, Peter Bruther, who has run away and become a miner which makes him instantly free. Simon tries to convince Sir William that there is nothing he can do because Peter Bruther is now under the protection of the king. There has been a history of clashes between the "tinners" and the other landowners and Sir William is not convinced that he has no legal claim to his villein.

Later, Peter Bruther is found hanged in Wistman's Wood. Baldwin deduces that Bruther was strangled somewhere else and transported and hung from a tree in the woods - that's cold-blooded murder! Simon and Baldwin must return to the moors and unravel the truth before violence erupts between the miners and the landowners. Then, when they are at a stand still in the investigation; the two men at arms, Samuel Hankyn and Ronald Taverner, who discovered the body of Bruther are also murdered under cover of a attention distracting fire started in Sir William's barns. Why? Our duo continue questioning and seek out discrepancies, falsehoods, observations and by intuition and "ah-ha" moments are lead to the truth and the murderer. In the meantime Sir Robert Beauscyr is kidnapped by the miners because the mine leader thinks he is the murderer of Bruther, tempers flair, and a small battle ensues to get him back. Why is Thomas Smyth, the wealthy tinner, so bent on getting justice for Bruther's murder?

Suspects include: Sir William Beauscyr who is humiliated by the loss of his villein; his bickering sons, Sir Robert who will inherit the estate and visiting John Beauscyr, a knight in training accompanied by his master, Sir Ralph of Warton; Thomas Smyth, the leader of the miners who also runs a protection racket on the side that, if funded, will prevent his men from coming on a landowners property and mining for tin thus destroying the land; Adam Coyt, a nearby landowner who dislikes miners, etc.

There were several twists and turns in the some-what convoluted but well written plot. There is lots of interesting history. I also like the amusing exchanges and personal conversations between Simon and Baldwin. A recommended series.

[Johnny · Rating 4 out of 5]

For most lovers of murders set in historical periods, Michael Jecks’ Knights Templar Mystery Series will need no introduction. Tales such as A Moorland Hanging feature Simon Puttock, bailiff of Lydford Castle, and his more analytical friend, Sir Baldwin Furnshill, a Templar who managed to escape to England instead of being massacred in King Philip’s treachery. To some degree, there are also short point-of-view sections from their man, Hugh, and, of course, there are point-of-view sections from the suspects (and there tend to be many suspects in these novels).

In A Moorland Hanging, the story begins when a legal conundrum turns into the investigation of the eponymous hanging. From the start there are several logical suspects with the list enhanced throughout the novel as Jecks adds more and more interesting complications. The legal conundrum was fascinating. A serf runs away from a manor successfully and begins to mine and smelt tin within the moors. Normally, a lord of the manor would have the right to capture a runaway serf and bring him or her back. In this case, however, the “tinners” provided a nice income for the relatively worthless King Edward II from otherwise unhospitable properties on the moors. So, the law considered them to belong to the king and under the king’s protection rather than to the previous lord.

As if complications from the legal problem weren’t enough, Jecks artfully interlaces the case of border reivers raiding between Scotland and England to cast further doubt on the innocence or culpability of various suspects. Jecks even works in some of the atrocities surrounding Edward I’s incursion into Wales. The mystery itself is complicated by the Moorish culture of hiding things.
Before I confess how badly I was mistaken in solving the mystery, please bear with me as I share an interesting observation where a knight compares himself to the clergy. “Courtesy, honor, largesse…these are the main principles by which a knight must live. All a bishop need do is profess a love of God to increase his wealth a hundredfold; as soon as he’s considered a holy man people will flock like sheep to give him their money.” (p. 138)

Early on, from descriptions of a certain character, I considered him a longshot as the murderer. My initial instinct proved right, but maybe I have a misogynistic streak in my subconscious because I built prima facia cases against three different women. One I suspected as murdering one of the victims because of an affair with the victim (and no, I didn’t have a good basis for this, and I was wrong). One I suspected as murdering the victim to protect someone she loved regarding whom she seemed to be the stronger person. Nope! Another one I suspected as a possible revenge killing. In all fairness, these were longshot suspects that I mentally consider much as someone might bet “the field” in the Kentucky Derby—not very likely, but sometimes a nice surprise.

A Moorland Hanging is a solid mystery featuring interesting historical perspectives and interesting characters. I enjoy the series and seeing the development of the main characters (even though I have acquired the books and read them out of order).

[James Casey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read the first two of the Knights Templar series and enjoyed them very much, intriguing crime novels of the thirteenth century when knights were bold but life was not easy in old Devon.
In this story we see Simon the bailiff and Sir Baldwin his trusty friend having to unravel the mysterious death of a tin miner. He was a runaway villein of the local landowner Sir William Beaucyr, but the tin miners came under their own laws and protection and they were led by a wealthy miner, Tom Smyth and the two men were always in dispute. Simon and Sir Baldwin’s investigation was met with lies and half truths, they didn’t know who to believe and who not to and they kept coming to so many dead ends that it got a little tiring for me and it lost its intrigue and fell a bit flat after what started off so well, then there were two more murders which almost got glossed over but..... there was a twist at the end, but sadly one that was not really too surprising, and then it finished quite weakly.
However, I will not be deterred from reading the next book which I hope will have a bit more grit and guts, like the first two had aplenty. 3/5

[Janneke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Weer een spannende zaak met Simon Puttock en Sir Baldwin in de hoofdrol. Een horige, weggelopen van Beauscyr Manor, vestigt zich op de woeste gronden van Dartmoor waar tin gedolven wordt.
De tinmijnen vallen onder de koning want met de opbrengsten financierde Engelse koningen hun oorlogen. Hierdoor ontstond er een gebied met een eigen bestuur dat onder leiding stond van de inspecteur-generaal van de tinmijnen.
De horige die weggelopen was viel, doordat hij zich vestigde als mijnwerker onder de wetten die golden voor de tinmijnen. De heren van de havezaten (Manors) waren echter afhankelijk van hun horigen in die zin, dat als ze geen horigen zouden hebben, zouden de landerijen niet bewerkt worden en de havezate zou daardoor economisch niet levensvatbaar zijn.
Simon Puttock, de Baljuw en Sir Baldwin, worden gevraagd te bemiddelen in een conflict tussen de leider van de mijnwerkers en Sir William Beauscyr. Een conflict dat een dieptepunt bereikt als Peter Bruther, de weggelopen horige dood wordt gevonden. Hij is eerst gewurgd en daarna opgehangen. Wie is de dader?

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yet another interesting set of murders for Simon Puttock, bailiff, and Sir Baldwin Furnshill, former Knight Templar, to investigate.
A runaway villein turned tin miner, Peter Bruther, is found dead on the moor. There are many people who could have killed the young man from the nobles and their entourage in the local manor to the village of tin miners on the moor. But virtually everyone has an alibi for the time Bruther was killed. He had been strangled, then taken to a small wood and strung up, as though he had hanged himself.
Two men at arms are subsequently killed, for no obvious reason. At the time the men at arms are killed, a fire has broken out at the manor.
Eventually, Simon and Sir Baldwin solve the first murder, and in so doing, also solve the later two. There was only one character who had no alibi for the time of the murders, and it was the only one that I hadn't even suspected.

[Chris Rittelmeyer]

EDITORIAL REVIEW: In fourteenth-century Devon, runaway villeins were brutally punished if apprehended by their masters. But when Peter Bruther flees the home of Sir William Beauscyr, he puts himself in the protection of the king by setting up as a tin miner on the moors. And the bailiff of Lydford, Simon Puttock, has to inform an irate Sir William that he has no legal claim on his wayward servant. When Bruther's body is found hanging from a tree, Simon, assisted by the former Knight Templar Sir Baldwin Furnshill, finds himself investigating cold-blooded murder. And there's no shortage of suspects, from Sir William himself, to his feuding sons, to Thomas Smyth, a wealthy tinner who runs a ruthlessly enforced protection racket funded by landowners. The pressure is on Simon and Baldwin to unravel the truth before further violence ensues.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars
Another enjoyable and suspenseful jaunt with Simon and Baldwin. I love how these two main characters are a found family supporting each other, yet often disagreeing. Simon having had a more insular life, with somewhat primitive and superstitious beliefs, while the more worldly Baldwin is more progressive in his views. Together they see all possibilities, making the perfect crime solving team.
Again, Michael Jecks left me guessing until the end, despite the breadcrumbs scattered throughout that would have led me to the correct conclusion. The false paths and myriad of suspects; either downright unsavoury or suspiciously too nice, always has me mystified as to 'who-done-it'.
I am looking forward to reading the next instalment.

[Gerry Grenfell-Walford · Rating 3 out of 5]

Middling and somewhat shapeless murder mystery, but the pace is gentle and not overly demanding. I do sometimes wish Jecks was more precise and focused in his writing - this book could easily have been 75-100 pages briefer. As others have noted elsewhere, it's not always clear from their words who is talking, as most of the characters are fairly 2D.
Ok, on the plus side, you do get a feeling for the open moorlands and having visited Wistman's Wood myself (if you ever do go, please be respectful of it's fragile ecological state) it seems a particularly evocative place.
But the whole thing is like watching a film with the camera slightly out of focus. It's a big old mug of milky tea.

[Fer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nunca me había encontrado con un libro de misterios ambientado en el siglo XIV y debo decir que este me sorprendió gratamente. En un principio intenté encasillar a Simon y Baldwin, los investigadores del caso, en una suerte de Sherlock y Watson; para luego notar que ambos se reparten el protagonismo de manera muy equilibrada. La historia se percibe bien documentada y una vez capta tu atención, difícilmente la deja ir. En definitiva, una de las lecturas que más me ha entretenido en lo que llevo de año.

[Mark Isaak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Conflict brews in the 14th century between a lord and his household and the tin miners that have rights to mine on his land. The characters are interesting, especially the relationships between them. The plot, for much of the book, consists of people keeping secrets and bailiff Simon going around saying, "Talk to us already!" But the secrets are often surprising when they come out, ultimately to a mostly satisfying resolution.

[Gerry Connolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Moorland Hanging is another of Michael Jecks’ medieval whodunits featuring Bailiff Simon and Templar Knight Baldwin. With the clash between tin miners and the local Lord and his family the duo need to unravel three murders. Of course they succeed. Would that Medieval English justice had been so thorough. I’m a sucker for the Middle Ages

[Ken Hohman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of the Sir Baldwin series, but this is the weakest of the ones I've read. I was excited about a murder taking place in the tin miner camps/stannaries-something that Bernard Knight accomplished with far better results in The Tinner's Corpse-but it falls prey to Jecks's weaknesses: too many interrogations retreading the same line of inquiry and a redundancy of characters.

[Harron68 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably generous giving it 3, it's more average 2.5 stars. Nothing special. Not up to the Ellis Peters or Margaret Frazer "Sr. Frevisse" tales that better put readers in those times. Killer was, as some writers plot, "not one of the usual suspects." Wish there were more riveting mysteries out there. I do have 3 more of the Jecks stories, so maybe one will be worthy! Thanx.

[Bethan Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

The body of a runaway villein is found hanging on Dartmoor, but as he’d run away to become a tin miner the laws around what happened to a runaway were different, the dead man had found a legal loophole.
However, Bailiff Simon Puttock needs to investigate, and his friend Sir Baldwin Furnshill accompanies him.

[N.G. Rowland · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love these books. The time period is incredibly interesting. Jeck's writing makes me feel like I'm there. Sir Baldwin and Simon are great characters, who I love more and more with each book. I love them all.

[Paige Wearing · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoying the series, but this book unfortunately felt like it went on and on. It would have been much better if it could have been shorter. On the other hand, it does an excellent job of teaching us about the period.

[Joan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jecks sets up an interesting story regarding the tension between tin miners and the local gentry in early 14th century Cornwall. The story rambles, however, and is not well executed.

[Dale Boardman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Third book, strong story with a few slow parts. Some parts of the book needlessly made the book longer, but overall well told.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable read.

[Robert Anastasiades · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant

Another brilliant book by this brilliant author, kept you guessing right to the very end great continuity with the other books

[Francis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well I like this series, I liked this book. Only, if it had been about fifty pages shorter I would have liked it a lot more.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well enough read and interesting but a run of the mill historical crime book.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

14th century murder mystery series. Nice for the view of the culture of the period and bits of real history thrown in.

[Elena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Giallo medioevale scritto in modo splendido.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best so far of the first three entries in this series by Michael Jecks.