The Knights Templar

They had all joined taking three vows: poverty, chastity, and obedience...for they were monks: warrior monks, dedicated to theprotection of pilgrims in the Holy Land — until stories spread by anavaricious king who wanted their wealth for his own destroyed the order.

There was one knight, however, who escaped the stake, vowing justiceas he watched his innocent brothers die.

A Dastardly Deed

When

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The Knights TemplarThey were warrior monks, dedicated to the protection of pilgrims in the Holy Land—until an avaricious king who wanted their wealth savagely destroyed the order. One knight, however, escaped the stake, vowing justice for his innocent murdered brothers. An Ill WindThe arrival of the eminent Bishop of Exeter to the small Devonshire town of Crediton—coupled with the unwanted appearance of a particularly unsavory band of mercenary...

The town is a powder keg ready to explode... All it needs is a match. England, 1320. The threat of civil war lies heavily on the kingdom. The monk Ralph of Houndeslow is new to Crediton's leper hospital. He finds that not only are his charges appallingly ill, but bigotry means that they are all shunned by the people of the town. The citizens of Crediton are appalled when the goldsmith is found murdered, and his daughter assaulted. Sir Baldwin Furnshill...

A house of God hides a dark secret... It's 1321 and Lady Elizabeth, Prioress of St Mary's, is struggling to retain her position, especially since Sister Margherita, her treasurer, has accused her of lascivious disregard, claiming that, instead of paying for a new roof, Elizabeth has given money to the new vicar, a man she often sees alone – at night… Sir Baldwin Furnshill, together with his old friend Simon Puttock, is summoned by the Bishop...

No rest for the wicked, not even at Christmas...For Sir Baldwin Furnshill, Keeper of the King's Peace, and Bailiff Simon Puttock, Christmas 1321 is set to be marvellous. They are to receive the prestigious gloves of honor in a ceremony led by the specially elected Boy-Bishop. But they soon learn that Ralph — the glove maker — has been stabbed to death. Then Peter, a Secondary at the cathedral, collapses from poisoning. Simon and Baldwin must...

The discovery of a young girl's skeleton leads to Simon and Baldwin's darkest investigation yet... As the summer of 1322 brings sun to the Devonshire countryside, it seems that the small village of Sticklepath is destined to remain in gloom. Two playmates uncover the body of a young girl up on the moors. The body is that of Aline, the ten-year-old daughter of Swetricus, who went missing six years ago. Baldwin Furnshill, Keeper of the King's Peace,...

Bailiff Simon Puttock's servant, Hugh, has been granted leave to look after his wife, Constance, and to help raise their child; but soon after, she is attacked in their home, raped by a gang of men. Then she watches as her son is murdered and Hugh is struck down, before she too is killed and the house set afire. When Simon and Sir Baldwin Furnshill, Keeper of the King's Peace, arrive at the grisly scene, the cottage is burned to the ground, the body...

The tale, set in 1324 Exeter during Edward II's corrupt regime, is no less gripping for its complexity. Esteemed Knight Templar turned investigator Sir Baldwin de Furnshill reluctantly joins London's fledgling parliament after the Bishop of Exeter suggests that the king's French wife might be part of a conspiracy against the throne. Soon an inquest into several mysterious deaths uncovers further evidence of a plot centered on the nefarious work of...

"As the year 1326 draws to a close, London is in flames. King Edward II is held prisoner, and the mercenaries and rebels led by the vengeful Queen Isabella and her lover, Sir Roger Mortimer, are in the ascendant. While the richest in the kingdom fight over the spoils of the invasion, the Bardi family, bankers who once funded the King, are in a quandary. They must look to their own future with the Queen as the mob rampages over the city, steering a...