Book Review: The Butcher of St. Peter's

Reviewed By: Catherine Thompson - RAM

The Butcher of St. Peter's     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon UK PB Amazon UK HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Michael Jecks
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Historical
Series: Knights Templar Mysteries # 19
Headline; $34.95 hardcover; 328 pages

When Daniel Austyn is murdered in his home, people immediately suspect Estmund Webber, a man known for sneaking into homes to look at children as they sleep. Est lost his child in the famine 8 years earlier and his wife shortly thereafter committed suicide. The folk of Exeter have known him only as a harmless man shot through with grief, but now it seems his grief has taken a deadly turn.

But Sir Baldwin de Furnshill finds Webber a most unlikely murderer. Austyn was a King’s officer, an enthusiastic seeker of felons who had garnered more than his share of enemies, perhaps. And this murder is not the only cause of uproar in Exeter in 1323: the Dominican friars are preaching against the Cathedral Chapter, there are allegations that guests in the Dean’s house have been the victims of theft, and the city’s new Coroner, Sir Peregrine de Barnstaple, seems to set himself against the King’s allies. Then 2 more bodies turn up, and the people fear that there is a madman on the loose.

I believe I’ve mentioned that I’m a sucker for a well-written mediaeval mystery, and Jecks has quickly become one of my favourite practitioners of the genre. Though there are more characters to keep track of than in your average mystery, Jecks never loses the threads of the plot, nor does he allow his characters to slip into caricature. Each one, from the smallest child to the oldest priest, is fully drawn. I could wish for a more solid grasp of point-of-view, but all in all, a thrilling read. Jecks seems to reach into the past and bring events forward, until you can smell the midden-heaps.

Catherine Thompson - RAM

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Catherine Thompson - RAM