The Medieval Murderers

The Medievil Murderers are a set of four books written as anthologies by a group of historical crime novelists.

Set up by Micheal Jecks, author of the Templar Mysteries, the group consists of a number of popular historical crime authors (including Michael Jecks, Susanna Gregory, Bernard Knight, Ian Morson, Philip Gooden, and Simon Beaufort) who each write about sleuths in different historical periods. The idea behind the Medievil Murderers books is that they follow a single item or artifact through the time periods, and the sleuths have to solve the crimes that are commited around them. As the books are named the Medieval Murders, it is no surprise that these crimes are usually murder.

The books each contain a set of short stories which stand alone, introducing historical fans to characters they may not have heard of and providing additional material for characters they have. In addition, there is a framing story, describing the origin of the artefact, and a short modern day ending.

The Tainted Relic covers a sliver of wood originally believed to be part of the cross. Cursed to kill anyone who touches it, it passes down through the ages surrounded by mayhem and murder. Its value is such that men would kill to possess it, but the man who possesses it always dies, making the final fate of the sliver in the afterword bitterly ironic.

Sword of Shame, the second book again follows an artifact, this time a sword that was crafted to defeat the invaders of Britain, but which again carries a dreadful curse. Sword of Shame suffers slightly because its conceit is too close to the first books.

In House of Shadows, the cursed item is a location. A monastery cursed after the death of a young monk is afterwards followed by years of misfortune and death within its walls. Plots, scheme and intrigues abound, and in each era the sleuths must untangle the web of its past.

The Lost Prophecies focuses on a book of prophecies washed ashore in Ireland. One of the best of the series, the sleuths have to resolve the murders surrounding the book - because who would not kill to know the futurec

As an introduction to historical crime thrillers, these are useful, particularly if you want to try several authors at once before settling on one series. Likewise fans of one author may appreciate seeing their favourite sleuths effectively guest-starring in a longer novel.

It's a creative conceit for a series, and aside from Sword of Shame which is the weakest entry in the series, all the books are solid reads. By the fourth book, the writers have managed to pull their styles together and their individual sections follow together more effectively.

In short, for a fan of historical crime, one of these is worth picking up. if you like them, try the others.

Further reading
http://www.squidoo.com/MichaelJecks