Wednesday, July 24, 2013

City of Fiends by Michael Jecks

Finished on 6/21

Who would have thought that the city of fiends was Exeter. I gather that this is simply the most recent in a very long series - wiki says thirty one novels about the former Knight Templar and his buddy. This one is somewhere in the Edwards - third, I think, early third. Third has just deposed Second and is reigning (at age 15 or so) under a regency.

The story centers around the gruesome murders of two women. Jecks points us at any number of potential murderers before the end. At times I thought it was almost too depressing to continue, but the story kept dragging me back.

Medieval England was not a nice place. Did I forget to mention the murder, rape, and pillage going on in the interests of an attempt to restore Edward II to the throne?

All of that gets tied in before the end, but the body count - if you include the murder, rape, and pillage stuff - is astounding - and includes several promising potential murderers.

Oh, well. This may be telling, but I can't resist - you have to love it when a writer so completely embraces the cliche. And - for those who survive, things work out well. And the little boy does get a puppy.

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