One kingdom, two kings. Only one can rule.
As the year 1326 draws to a close, London is in flames. King Edward II is a prisoner, and the forces of his vengeful queen, Isabella, and her lover Sir Roger Mortimer, are in the ascendant. The Bardi family, bankers who have funded the King, must look to their future with the Queen, steering a careful course between rival factions - if, that is, they can keep themselves alive.
Others, too, find their loyalties torn. Guarding the deposed King on behalf of Mortimer, Sir Baldwin de Furnshill and bailiff Simon Puttock find themselves entangled in a tightening net of conspiracy, greed, betrayal and murder.
The thirtieth instalment in the gripping Last Templar Mysteries series, perfect for fans of C. J. Sansom and Susanna Gregory.
"Jecks once again brings early 14th-century England to life with his encyclopedic knowledge of the period."
"This is a fast-moving story full of fierce fights and cunning conspiracies with domestic interludes. An interesting and instructive portrait of one of England's more unpleasant periods."
"Characters are aptly described so as to be almost hideous in their medieval realism, which feels authentic down to the finest detail."
"...an overwhelming atmosphere of traitorous deceit ... a worthy addition to the canon..."
King's Gold was originally published by published by Simon & Schuster and is available from Amazon (or from any bookshop - help them to order it by telling them the ISBN: 978-1-84983-083-6).
The new Kindle edition from Canelo books is available now.
Michael Jecks says:
The idea for this book first came to me a long time ago. I'd been gradually sifting the period for nuggets of brilliance, and the end of King Edward II's reign was particularly attractive for me. It had everything: infidelity, betrayal, deceit, war and a road trip too! For most of my career I have been trying to avoid using up too much material too quickly, but this moment in history was one I had looked forward to writing about for ages.
It was, after all, just about the most exciting period in English history: the King himself had been captured and was being held in Kenilworth while his wife, who had invaded the kingdom in order to kick out her husband, was lording it over all and sundry with her lover, Sir Roger Mortimer.
Just a bit galling for a chap. Clearly this was never going to be a good year for poor old Edward.
Just think. There he was, in a dingy dungeon beneath the castle walls, water dripping away... well, except he wasn't.
