Summary
1191. During excavation work at Glastonbury Abbey, an ancient leaden cross is discovered buried several feet below the ground. Inscribed on it are the words: Hic iacet sepultus inclitus rex arturius ...Here lies buried the renowned King Arthur. Beneath the cross are skeletal remains. Could this really be the legendary King Arthur and his queen, Guinevere?
As the monks debate the implications of this extraordinary discovery, the bones disappear - spirited away by the mysterious Guardians, determined to keep King Arthur's remains safe until the legend is fulfilled and he returns to protect his country in in the hour of its greatest need.
A missing right hand. A gang of ruthless bodysnatchers. Brother accused of killing brother. As the secret of the bones' hiding place is passed from generation to generation, those entrusted to safeguard the king's remains must withstand treachery, theft, blackmail and murder in order to keep the legend intact.
Summary
Relics of King Arthur are worth killing for five times over eight centuries in the Medieval Murderers' latest collaboration (The Sword of Shame, 2006, etc.). Legend says that Arthur never died but only sleeps, to wake at the hour of his people's greatest need. When the monks at Glastonbury in 1191 find the grave of a man of regal height, with an iron cross engraved Rex Arturius, the Welsh brother among them knows that the English king will seize this as proof that Arthur cannot rise again, thereby discouraging rebellious spirits who take hope from the legend. He summons his countrymen to spirit the bones away to Wales. In a solemn ceremony, the Welsh Guardians vow that they and their descendants will safeguard the true bones through the centuries. And they do, in the five stories that follow this prologue. In 1198, when a chaplain is murdered under Merlin's oak, which sheltered Arthur's bones, the constable's clever wife solves the case. The second act is the weakest, with a pedantic tone and little investigation. The third is a classic English village murder, committed when a disreputable pardoner gets his hands on some of the relics. Act four gilds the Arthurian lily by dragging in Shakespeare but provides a smooth transition from medieval miracles to modern skepticism. The final mystery, set in 1818, is a noirish investigation by shady Egyptologist Joe Malinferno and Doll Pocket, a doxy with moxie. A satisfying meal broken into distinct courses. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Michael Jecks was born in Surrey, United Kingdom in 1960. He worked as a computer salesman for thirteen years before becoming a full-time author of medieval murder mysteries. His first book, The Last Templar, was published in 1994. Most of his books are either based on Dartmoor legends or on actual events recorded in Coroner's Rolls or the Crown Pleas of the Devon Eyre. He writes the Knights Templar series as well as The Medieval Murderers with Bernard Knight, Ian Morsen, Susannah Gregory, and Phillip Gooden. In 2007, his twenty-first novel, The Death Ship of Dartmouth was short-listed for the Theakston's Old Peculier prize for the best crime novel of the year.
(Bowker Author Biography)
