1325: Sir Baldwin de Furnshill and his friend Simon Puttock are sent to France with Bishop Walter II of Exeter to guard the King's son on his journey to the French King, Charles IV. The King's son must pay homage to the powerful monarch if he is to save his father, Edward II, from utter humiliation, and enable the English to keep hold of vital territory in France.
They are unaware that King Edward's wife, Queen Isabella, has grown so disaffected that she has begun to plot her revenge. And one of the people she blames for her troubles is the Bishop of Exeter. Baldwin has never sought high office, yet somehow he finds himself in a foreign land, trying to balance the demands made on him by the Queen, the heir to the throne - now emerging as a power in his own right - and his old friend. Can he trust any of them? Soon it becomes clear that the English party have enemies within the palace walls.
Meanwhile, a husband and wife are murdered, he in the Louvre palace itself, she in an alley near the Grand Châtelet, to the perplexity of the long-suffering Procureur of Paris. Can there be some connection between these two strange deaths and the shadowy 'King' of the Parisian underworld?
It isn't long before Simon and Baldwin discover that the future of the English crown itself is at risk, but to protect it they must uncover a guilty secret from the beginning of the century. Baldwin is not the only one whose past casts a shadow over the present.
Read an extract from The King of Thieves, to see how Baldwin and Simon adapt to dealing with royalty!
The King of Thieves was published by Headline on 13th November 2008; it was published simultaneously in hardback and trade paperback (large format soft covers) editions. You can click the links to order it now from Amazon, or ask your local bookshop to order it, quoting the ISBN: 978-0-7553-4416-1 for the hardback, 978-0-7553-4903-6 for the trade paperback.
The standard format paperback was published on 11th June; order a copy from Amazon (or from a bookshop, quoting the ISBN: 978-0-7553-4975-3).
King of Thieves is also available in audio: published by ISIS Soundings and read by Michael Tudor Barnes; order it on audio CD from Amazon, direct from the publisher (product code SCDS3905) or from a bookshop, quoting the ISBN: 978-1-4079-0916-5. Alternatively, order on audio cassette, from Amazon, from ISIS (Product code SOUNDS3905) or from a bookshop (ISBN 978-1-4079-0915-8).
Acclaim for Michael Jecks' mysteries:
"Stirring intrigue and a compelling cast of characters will continue to draw accolades..."
Publishers Weekly
"Atmospheric and cleverly plotted."
The Observer
"a page-turning masterpiece that will keep the reader totally gripped until the very last page. Highly recommended."
Historical Novels Review