The Last Templar

By Michael Jecks

Paris, 1307. A Knight Templar weeps as he watches his friends, broken by torture, go to their deaths at the stake. Pope Clement has destroyed the Order, persuaded of corruption within it. All that remains is the desire for vengeance against those who defiled the Order’s name.

Devon 1316. Simon Puttock is the newly appointed bailiff of Lydford Castle, but has little experience of violence. A charred body is found in a burned-out cottage, and only the new lord, Sir Baldwin de Furnshill, deduces that the victim was dead before the fire began.

Together, Simon and Baldwin begin to piece together the events of the man’s last days. Then word comes of another murder, and this time the victim was burned alive…

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
• Release date: Dec 6, 2012
• ISBN: 9781471126468

Michael Jecks

Michael Jecks gave up a career in the computer industry when he began writing the internationally successful Templar series. There are now twenty books starring Sir Baldwin Furnshill and Bailiff Simon Puttock, with more to follow. The series has been translated into all the major European languages and sells worldwide. The Chairman of the Crime Writers' Association for the year 2004–2005, Michael is a keen supporter of new writing and has helped many new authors through the Debut Dagger Award. He is a founding member of Medieval Murderers, and regularly talks on medieval matters as well as writing.

Reviews for The Last Templar

[johnjgaynard · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Michael Jecks has explained on Goodreads all the problems he encountered while writing this, the first book of his Templar series. I am a fan of everything to do with medieval history, and I really liked The Last Templar, especially the descriptions of the untamed English countryside, as honest subjects of the King hunt down roaming men who terrorize their countrymen. He has a light, but sure, touch with the historical detail. I will read the second in the series, the Merchant's Partner.

[thiscatsabroad · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Was hooked with the forward and then (continuing with the fish metaphor) swam away just a few pages into the first chapter. Eminently skim-able. Which is what I did. *Very* disappointed :(

[drled_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Synopsis: The Bailiff must solve two murders and a series of robbery/homicides. What he finds is that although most folks think all these crimes are committed by a band of highwaymen, none of them are connected. He does meet 'the last Templar', a knight who has escaped the purges of France and has several secrets he must bear.Review: This book drags, possibly because it is the first in a series and there is a lot of background the author feels he needs to relate.

[auntieg0412 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I learned about Michael Jecks when a friend made a post in IG about a book he was reading. I decided to start at the very beginning of Jecks' work, and of course everyone's first novel has a few shortcomings. This one has some descriptions that are too long and a few paragraphs with redundant sentences, and overall it could have been a good many pages shorter. But I did like the story very much, and I will continue with the series. Because authors get better and better with each book, right? Of course they do, and I'm looking forward to following these characters through further adventures.

If you like murder mysteries and the medieval time period, give the Knights Templar series a try.

[catrn_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Michael Jecks is a favorite author of mine. I find him to be historically accurate while still creating interesting characters and storylines. With The Last Templar he did not disappoint.Taking place in 14th century England, the novel focuses on two men. The new Bailiff Simon who is anxious to begin his position and move to the castle at Lydford. The other man is Sir Baldwin the new master at Furnshill Manor. Sir Baldwin has the look and aura of a knight and Simon gets the feeling much sadness underlies his friendly manner.Within a day of their first meeting Simon is called to the scene of a house fire where there has been a death. Sir Baldwin also shows up at the site and requests to work on what he believes is a murder. Simon remains unconvinced until a death where an abbot who is traveling through is taken hostage and later burned at the stake like a heretic. Is it possible that both deaths are related and if so why? Also who could possibly commit such horrific murders and in the case of the abbot risk eternal damnation for the death of a man of God. These questions and more perplex Simon as he attempts to move forward in solving the two deaths. This book moves at a fast pace with a lot of action and many twists and turns keeping the reader guessing. As mentioned earlier there is a lot of historical detail here adding interest to the storylines and complex plots. Well drawn characters have depth and act as one would expect men of the 14th centers to act.This novel is the first of an ongoing series featuring Simon and Sir Baldwin. I believe The Last Templar is a great beginning to what should be a very interesting series.

[booksfordinner · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A solid if a bit long debut historical mystery... Certainly good enough to try another from the series, but they would need to get a bit more concise and focused for me to read much more than that.

[olivermagnus · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The Last Templar starts with the mysterious narration of the death of a Templar Knight in France. It also introduces Bailiff Simon Puttock and his wife and daughter, which serves to give us an intimate picture of life in the Middle Ages. Although I found it difficult to get into the story at first, eventually I found the characters and their relationships interesting enough to continue. The plot begins with the horrifying death of a local villager in his burning house Before long a group of merchants are murdered by highway men. An abbot is burned as if he were a heretic. Simon befriends Sir Baldwin Furnshill, the new lord of the manor and along with Hugh, his faithful servant, they set out to find the killers.

This is clearly a preparatory book where we are introduced to the main characters and their relationships are established. With this in mind I tried to stay interested in the sometimes tedious descriptions and motive-explaining. Like any series, you have to learn who the people are in the beginning, so that their actions and reasons in subsequent books make sense to you. If you read this book expecting Ellis Peters you will be disappointed because the storytelling just doesn't measure up. I found the writing and the history in this book were somehow lacking and I don't feel motivated to read any others in the series to see if there is any improvement in future books.

[alan1946 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

First in Jecks' series involving Simon Puttock, newly appointed bailiff of Lydford Castle, and Sir Baldwin Furnshill, having just succeeded his brother as the master of Furnshill Manor in the west country of England.
The story begins with the execution of Templars and some background as to why they fell out of favour with the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor who were both envious of the power and wealth of the Templars. Jecks does not dwell on this, however, and moves the story on to the death of a villager in a house fire, and the execution by burning at the stake of a newly appointed Abbot of Buckfast Abbey.
It is Puttock’s duty, as bailiff, to investigate these matters with Baldwin showing some interest in the proceedings. The book moves on at a slow pace, rather like the slowness of the travel in Medieval times. It is quite interesting, but never really grabbed me in such a way that I would make an effort to read more of the series. There are some quite interesting characters in the book, and, yes, I did want to find out how it was resolved, but once completed I cannot say that I was hungry for more.
Pleasant read, some excellent descriptions.
3.5 stars

[jcprowe · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Last Templar by Michael JecksThe first Knights Templar Mystery, The Last Templar, was an outstanding read that I thoroughly enjoyed. As many of you already know, I am a big fan of the Knights Templar and love to get my eyeballs on anything related to the Templars. Obviously, with a book titled like this, my interest is going to be piqued quickly.Jecks has based his stories around the detective skills of Simon Puttock, the bailiff of Lydford Castle, and his neighbor Sir Baldwin Furnshill, a former Templar. Furnshill escaped Paris just after the last Templar Grand Master de Molay was burned at the stake. That is about all the connection to the Templars there is in this novel.As a murder mystery, I found Jecks’s main characters to be believable and likable. I found the plot intriguing, and like all good murder mystery genre writing, it kept me guessing right to the very end. I also found the historical referencing to be accurate but not overwhelming not taxing on the readers’ attention span. Occasionally, historical fiction writers get a little too involved with the individual trees and forget the forest; that does not happen with this novel.Out of the seventeen Jecks novels that I am aware of, I have read eleven. I am always on the lookout for the Jecks novels that I have not read because I really like the story. There is no better praise for any serial author than to have somebody read more than one book in that series. If I were Jecks, I would be very happy to have found a reader so engrossed in the stories I have drafted.This is one series of historical fiction / murder mystery that I would recommend to any reader. I have always thought Jecks’s writing style was close to Ellis Peters but I am going to have to go back and read a few of Peters’ books again just to be sure.Happy Reading,

[jguidry-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was a decent historical mystery.  The descriptions of 14th century English law were excellent.  It was very interesting to hear how criminals were captured by posses and how crimes were solved.  The solution to the main mystery was predictable based on the prologue but there were enough storyline details to keep it interesting.  My main problem with the book was the ending.  The resolution itself was fine, but I'm not sure that it would have gotten the stamp of approval" by the priest that the author gave it.  I will continue with the series, though, because I like the characters.

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[neilsantos_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Sorta underwhelming, my fault, I forgot that I don't like cop stories, and there's nothing in the world I hate more than a crooked cop. If this were an American movie Sean Bean would be Sir Baldwin. The mystery was convoluted (as mysteries are I suppose), and the resolution was unsatisfying.

[pak6th · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Medieval West County Mystery tale of revenge and murder. The Order of the Knights Templar has been brutally suppressed and its members executed but a few survive, taking on new identities, moving to safer places, like Devon England. A newly appointed bailiff, Simon Puttock finds himself investigating two deaths by fire. Then a band of robbers decide to murder some traveling merchants. Can Sir Badlwin Furnshill help or is he part of the problem? Full of information about daily life in the fourteenth century.

[brsquilt · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Read for book club. Not my kind of book at all.

[lanegs1_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Excellent medieval mysteries series; this first book isn't the best--they get better, which is very common in a series; Jecks is a former lawyer and loves history, so you learn a lot about medieval laws and customs, which I enjoy very much. Sir Baldwin is a bit stiff as a main character, but Bailiff Puttock is much more interesting. I get a big kick out of him!

[benfulton · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I was unable to make it all the way through this one. The writing is repetitive and unoriginal. The characters might have become interesting at some point, but they weren't, particularly, up to the point I read. The description of the death of Jacques De Molay was fairly good though.

[ficusfan · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Wordy, slow, and not very interesting.The book is much too long, with lots of boring repetitive bits. The prolog gives everything away, so there is really no mystery. The development of the characters doesn't make any sense. The development is mostly a lot of repetitive stuff about glints in their eyes, jaw clenching, and determined looks. The main character's squire is portrayed throughout as slow, surly, and unhelpful, but suddenly becomes a font of devotion.The detection is nothing more than asking questions and believing what the last person says.There is some interesting bits about the Templars, and the time period, but overall it seemed to lack historical connections to anything outside small village life.I am sure this series must get better because there are now something like 15 of them, but as a start this book is poor. I will not be reading anymore in the series.

[wyvernfriend · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Simon is the newly appointed bailiff of Lydford Castle, one of his first tasks is when he's called to a village where a charred body is found in a burned-out cottage. Sir Baldwin Furnshill, newly back from abroad, convinces him that not everything is as obvious as it seems and then there's more murders, but who is to blame and are all these deaths linked or is there other motives going on.Well written, interesting characters that show real depth, a good book.