Michael Jecks is a writer of historical mystery novels. The son of an Actuary, and the fourth of four brothers, he worked in the computer industry before becoming a novelist full time in 1994 – a decision forced on him when he was fired from his last position. He, his wife, daughter and son now live in northern Dartmoor.

Jecks has written a series of novels featuring Sir Baldwin Furnshill, a former Knight Templar

Knights Templar

The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...

, and his friend Simon Puttock, Bailiff of Lydford Castle. More recently he has founded The Medieval Murderers, a speaking and entertainment group of historical writers including Bernard Knight

Bernard Knight

Professor Bernard Knight, CBE, became a Home Office pathologist in 1965 and was appointed Professor of Forensic Pathology, University of Wales College of Medicine, in 1980. He was awarded the CBE in 1993 for services to forensic medicine....

, Ian Morson, Susanna Gregory

Susanna Gregory

Susanna Gregory is the pseudonym of Elizabeth Cruwys, a Cambridge academic who was previously a coroner's officer. She writes detective fiction, and is noted for her series of mediaeval mysteries featuring Matthew Bartholomew, a teacher of medicine and investigator of murders in 14th-century...

, Phillip Gooden and CJ Sansom. The group has developed to collaborate on their own highly successful books written as linked novellas, each book with a consistent theme, under the brand of The Medieval Murderers.

A member of the Society of Authors

Society of Authors

The Society of Authors is a trade union for professional writers that was founded in 1884 to protect the rights of writers and fight to retain those rights .It has counted amongst its members and presidents numerous notable writers and poets including Tennyson The Society of Authors (UK) is a...

 and Royal Literary Society, Jecks was the Chairman of the Crime Writers' Association

Crime Writers' Association

The Crime Writers Association is a writers' association in the United Kingdom. Founded by John Creasey in 1953, it is currently chaired by Peter James and claims 450+ members....

 in 2004–2005. In 2005 he became a member of the Detection Club

Detection Club

The Detection Club was formed in 1930 by a group of British mystery writers, including Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Freeman Wills Crofts, Arthur Morrison, John Rhode, Jessie Rickard, Baroness Emma Orczy, R. Austin Freeman, G.D.H. Cole, Margaret Cole, E.C. Bentley, and H.C. Bailey. Anthony...

. From 1998 he organised the CWA Debut Dagger competition for two years, helping unpublished authors to win their first contracts (including Allan Guthrie

Allan Guthrie

Allan Guthrie is a Scottish literary agent, and an author and editor of crime fiction. He was born in Orkney, but has lived in Edinburgh for most of his adult life. His first novel, Two-Way Split, was shortlisted for the CWA Debut Dagger Award, and it won the Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel...

, winner of the Theakston's Old Peculier

Theakston Brewery

T&R Theakston is a British regional brewery located in the town of Masham, North Yorkshire, England. They are the sixteenth largest brewer in the UK by market share, and the second largest brewer under family ownership after Shepherd Neame.-History:...

 Crime Novel of the Year 2007). He has judged the CWA/Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award for three years.

Michael Jecks is a popular speaker at literary festivals and historical meetings, at which he talks with Ian Mortimer

Ian Mortimer (historian)

Ian Mortimer is a British historian. He was educated at Eastbourne College, the University of Exeter and University College London . Between 1993 and 2003 he worked for several major research institutions, including the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts, and the universities of Exeter...

, the historian, as well as Medieval Murderers.

An enthusiastic shooter, walker, painter and homebrewer, Jecks will often be seen walking the moors with his Rhodesian Ridgeback and Bernese Mountain Dog, researching his novels in the landscape where they were originally conceived.

Jecks has a distant relative called Alan Jecks, who also has a son called Michael Jecks.

Knights Templar Mysteries

1. The Last Templar (March 1995)
2. The Merchant's Partner (November 1995)
3. Moorland Hanging (May 1996)
4. The Crediton Killings (June 1997)
5. The Abbot's Gibbet (April 1998)
6. The Leper's Return (November 1998)
7. Squire Throwleigh's Heir (June 1999)
8. Belladonna at Belstone (December 1999)
9. The Traitor of St. Giles (May 2000)
10. The Boy Bishop's Glovemaker (December 2000)
11. The Tournament of Blood (June 2001)
12. The Sticklepath Strangler (November 2001)
13. The Devil's Acolyte (June 2002)
14. The Mad Monk of Gidleigh (December 2002)
15. The Templar's Penance (June 2003)
16. The Outlaws of Ennor (January 2004)
17. The Tolls of Death (May 2004)
18. The Chapel of Bones (December 2004)
19. The Butcher of St Peter's (May 2005)
20. A Friar's Bloodfeud (June 2006)
21. The Death Ship of Dartmouth (November 2006)
22. The Malice of Unnatural Death (December 2006)
23. Dispensation of Death (June 2007)
24. The Templar, The Queen and Her Lover (December 2007)
25. The Prophecy of Death (June 2008)
26. The King of Thieves (November 2008)
27. No Law in the Land (June 2009)
28. The Bishop Must Die (November 2009)
29. The Oath (2010)
30. The King's Gold (2011)

The Medieval Murderers

1. The Tainted Relic (May 2005)
2. Sword of Shame (June 2006)
3. House of Shadows (June 2007)
4. The Lost Prophecies (June 2008)
5. King Arthur's Bones (2009)
6. Sacred Stone (2010)

External links

• Author's Web Site