Medieval Murderers Books in Order
Part ofMichael Jecks Books in OrderSee the Medieval Murderers collaborative series by Michael Jecks and fellow authors in order, with linked-story summaries, author line-up, and background on how the project came together.
Last updated: December 26, 2025
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Publication Order
10 books
The Deadliest Sin
by Michael Jecks
2014
A tale of pride and punishment woven through history. From a boastful Norman lord to a 14th-century priory, the authors explore how the deadliest sin leads to downfall and death, linking separate historical mysteries with a common thread of human hubris.
The False Virgin
by Michael Jecks
2013
An ancient statue of the Virgin Mary, carved from pagan stone, exercises a strange and malevolent power. The Medieval Murderers trace the icon's journey across centuries, where religious devotion twists into obsession, heresy, and bloodshed.
The First Murder
by Michael Jecks
2012
A play depicting the biblical first murder of Abel by Cain carries a dark legacy. As the script surfaces in different eras—from a medieval mystery play to a Restoration drama—life begins to imitate art, and murder follows the actors who perform it.
Hill of Bones
by Michael Jecks
2011
Solsbury Hill has been a place of death and ritual since ancient times. This collection follows the hill's dark history through the ages, from pagan sacrifices to medieval crimes, as the spirits of the past continue to haunt the living.
The Sacred Stone
by Michael Jecks
2010
A meteorite falls in Greenland and is fashioned into a stone with reputed healing powers. But greed and violence follow the artifact as it travels to medieval Exeter and beyond, bringing misfortune rather than miracles to those who possess it.
King Arthur's Bones
by Michael Jecks
2009
In 1191, monks at Glastonbury Abbey claim to have found the bones of King Arthur. But are they real, or a political fabrication? This linked narrative follows the secret of the bones through the ages, as guardians protect them from those who would use the legend for power.
The Lost Prophecies
by Michael Jecks
2008
A mysterious book of prophecies written by a 6th-century Irish monk is said to predict everything from the Black Death to the Gunpowder Plot. As the manuscript passes through history, it leaves a trail of madness and death for anyone who tries to decipher its secrets.
House of Shadows
by Michael Jecks
2007
Bermondsey Priory is cursed after a young chaplain is punished for sins of the flesh in 1114. Over the next five centuries, the priory becomes a backdrop for murder, ghosts, and political intrigue, as recorded in this series of interlinked tales by the Medieval Murderers group.
Sword of Shame
by Michael Jecks
2006
A Saxon sword forged before the Norman Conquest brings betrayal and death to all who wield it. From the battlefields of the 14th century to political scandals in Venice, this collection of linked mysteries follows the cursed blade's journey through the hands of knights, rebels, and murderers.
The Tainted Relic
by Michael Jecks
2005
A fragment of the True Cross, supposedly stained with the blood of Christ, carries a deadly curse. This collaborative novel traces the relic's bloody path from Jerusalem in 1100 through centuries of English history, as different sleuths encounter the cursed object and the violence that follows it.
Series background & context
The Medieval Murderers began, fittingly, with a group of crime writers talking in a pub after an event. Michael Jecks, Susanna Gregory, Bernard Knight, Ian Morson, Philip Gooden and others realised that they enjoyed performing together so much that they wanted to try joining forces on the page as well.
At first they toured as a loose troupe, sharing stages and swapping stories about medieval life, real crimes and the odd things that turn up in archives. Then the idea of a shared series took shape: instead of a conventional anthology, they would build each book around one central object or theme and follow it through time.
In the finished novels, that device might be a relic chipped from the True Cross, a meteorite turned into a supposedly healing stone, a statue of the Virgin carved from pagan rock or the bones of King Arthur himself. Each author takes the object into their own period and location, tells a self-contained mystery, and then hands it on to the next century. The result feels more like a relay race than a standard collection.
For readers, that structure means you see the same superstition, greed and fear play out in very different settings. A sin committed in the Holy Land can echo in a Devon priory generations later. A forged relic can inspire pilgrims, enrich thieves and end in a Victorian curiosity cabinet. The tone shifts with each writer, but the thread of the cursed thing keeps you turning pages.
Fans of Jecks will recognise his familiar characters when his turn comes round, while readers of Gregory, Knight or Morson will spot theirs in other sections. At the same time, the books are welcoming to newcomers. You do not need to know each author’s backlist to enjoy how their detectives clash with the MacGuffin they have been handed.
Although the stories range across centuries, the focus stays tight on human motives. Monks, merchants, lepers, soldiers and scholars all make terrible choices for believable reasons: fear of poverty, hunger for status, fury at old insults. The supernatural reputation of the object is usually less important than what living people are willing to do because of it.
If you like the idea of historical crime with a twist of time travel, where one mystery ripples across many eras, the Medieval Murderers books offer an inventive, collaborative spin on the genre.
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