This book is a welcome return to Tudor England and the world of Jack Blackjack .
Jack has been tasked by his Spymaster to kill a man - when he is informed of the change in plans he tries to save him instead . One body turns into two and Jack is in a mess yet again - his life is one disaster after another yet he still manages to come out the other side alive , if not always well .
The tension between the Protestants and the Spanish factions cause problems at every turn - can he fend them off ?
The Author manages to write an entertaining book blending history , spies , murder and introducing comedy at the most inappropriate moments to great effect - the Jack Blackjack character is one of the most interesting I have come across in recent times and I look forward to reading more in the future .

I was given an arc of the book by NetGalley and the Publisher in exchange for an honest review

Mchael Jecks continues his Jack Blackjack historical mysteries with Jack acting as personal assassin for John Blount, courtier under Queen Mary in a Missed Murder. Jack does not feel comfortable with cold blooded assassination in contrast to his past as a cutpurse and defendant from underworld assaults. He contracts out the killings to another underworld figure while the bodies start piling up; a Spanish courtier to Mary's consort King Philip, assorted dubious figures. Some rich prizes go missing and Jack is short of funds to pay his personal assistant. What else could go wrong? Welcome to the intrigues of the Tudor courts. Great reading.

Tudor 'tryhard' assassin Jack Blackjack strikes again!

Let's face it, Jack Blackjack is a survivor! An ex cut purse who's risen up in the world (somewhat), always with an eye to the main chance. Luck seems to land him on his feet but the path is nearly always painful and confusing. Jack's attitudes to women leave a lot to be desired. The only saving grace is that he's frequently out smarted by some of them. Perhaps if he lifted his head from lavishing his gaze at their chests he'd have more of an inkling as to what's happening around him.
Yes, Jack is your ultimate anti-hero! Still his bumblings seem to land him on his feet, although more often than not, with a body bruised, broken and damaged.
Jecks has us wandering through the London of Bloody Mary at the time of her marriage to King Phillip of Spain. Admittedly we visit the less salubrious parts of London--along the Thames, in very suspect alehouses complete with their disgusting waste pits, narrow alleyways and broken down houses, all accompanied by a palpable stench that leaches off the pages.
So Spaniards litter the plot of this Tudor mystery, along with the hovering, menacing presence of Jack's nemesis and employer John Blount. (And how Jack, who doesn't have the stomach to kill a fly ends up as Blount's paid assassin is another story of chance and mischance.)
This time Jack is to kill one Jeffry of Shoreditch. Of course the best laid plans go awry, with a convoluted pathway to success littered with botched happenings, unwholesome characters and lurking spies, not to mention the duped innocent.
I have a love hate relationship with Jack but have come to appreciate the situations he finds himself in, and the way he just always misses what's right under his nose. The title is a telling point in hand.

A NetGalley ARC

It was the first book I read in this series and I found it fun to read and entertaining.
I liked the characters, lively and well written, and found the plot fast pace and engaging.
I look forward to reading the next instalment in this series.
Recommended!
Many thanks to Severn House and Netgalley for this ARC

A Bloody Mary Tudor Mystery

Queen Mary has married Phillip II of Spain and is soon to give birth to their child. The alliances run deep on both sides of Mary and her half-sister, Elizabeth. Trust isn't even in the vocabulary in this century.

Jack is no longer a thief but a paid killer, trading his life on the streets for a more comfortable and hopefully less dangerous home. But his patron has ordered him to kill someone. No need to know the details, but the job goes horribly off track and it looks like Jack himself may have killed the wrong man. 

Pulled into a mess of who did what and why, Jack would like nothing better than cut his losses and run. But no. He's sucked into the intrigue and may not be around much longer himself.

Michael Jecks writing puts you smack dab in the middle of the Tudors and their spies and lovers and would be killers. Jack has a lot of flaws and yet we are still cheering for him. Personally I feel fully immersed in the 1500's and that is not an easy thing to do.



Well Done!

Netgalley/ December 01, 2018 Severn House

In this Tudor story Jack Blackjack is now a paid assassin in the employ of one John Blount. Blount is servant to Sir Thomas Parry, controller to the Lady Elizabeth, half-sister to Queen Mary. But for Jack his latest assignment goes wrong and now he must try and make amends.
Unfortunately I still didn't take to the character of Blackjack and so didn't enjoy the story as much as I hoped.

I am sorry to say but I had to put the book down after reading a quarter of the text.
The setting of the book sounded perfect for me: Enlgish and European royal history, intrigue, scandal, spies, murders and heroes. What more could one want?
However, the book did not take me. It did not take me at all. I tried my best to persevere, especially after reading some of the reviews on Goodreads. But no, I decided to not waste my time as I was reading but not hearing the text..
It is an unfortunate situation. The narration turned out 'not big no small' - like some of the characters' descriptions., long winded, turning in loops, confusing and lacking suspense.

‘The man was plainly alarmed as he should be. He was about to die.’

London, 1555. Queen Mary is married to Philip II of Spain and hoping for children. Not everyone is happy with this return to Catholicism: there are plenty who support Queen Mary’s half-sister, the Lady Elizabeth. Enter Jack Blackjack, a former cutpurse, who is now an assassin for John Blount, one of the Lady Elizabeth’s supporters. Jack is a rather unlikely assassin: murder makes him so squeamish that he engages another to do the actual killing. What could possibly go wrong?

Jack is ordered to kill a man. He makes the necessary arrangements with his partner, and then receives a message not to go ahead with the murder. Can he stop the murder in time?

I kept turning the pages of this novel as Jack lurches from one crisis to the next. Even good plans can go awry and actions, as Jack learns, frequently have unintended consequences. Jack ends up having to deal with two bodies as well as some very angry men with sharp, pointy swords. If you inhale deeply enough, you will smell an abundance of testosterone as well as the streets of London.

I really can’t take Jack Blackjack seriously, but that didn’t stop me enjoying this novel. Jack is an opportunist with a roving eye. He’s motivated by money and sex and consequently, he needs all his skill in self-preservation to survive.

I’ve read and enjoyed some of Michael Jecks’s other novels, but this is my first exposure to Jack Blackjack. It’s part murder mystery, part historical fiction and all action.

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Severn House for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

Jack Blackjack, paid assassin, has been ordered to kill a man. But, instead of killing this man, Jack decides to save him. Then, when another man with whom Jack has been acquainted with turns up dead, Jack is the apparent suspect. Now has has a number of people after him, and some of those people are very determined to deal with him. Can Jack prove his innocence without losing his own life first?

This was a very good installment in this mystery series. Most mysteries, I get a pretty good idea of whom the culprit ends up being. This one however, that was not the case. There were numerous twists and turns in this novel. I enjoyed the novel and highly recommend the series to anyone who likes medieval mysteries.

Another hugely enjoyable Jack Blackjack caper-style mystery set in the days of Mary Tudor. For readers looking for a Tudor mystery set in the back alleys of London, I would recommend this only if you are not overly concerned with the protagonist's moral leanings.

Jack Blackjack has orders to kill a man. Just as his plans are in place, he is informed his target has been moved to a different man. When it appears the wrong man has been killed, Jack is drawn into more problems and it will take all his ingenuity to get himself free.

As many times as jack has been hit over the head, is it any wonder he stumbles through life? Once again, this cut-purse turned reluctant assassin is doing his best not to have blood on his hands. He is fortunate to find someone willing to do the dirty deed for him, but loyalty is a fickle thing when politics are involved.

This book contained more euphemisms for sex than I've ever cared to read. I found Jack's behavior less amusing this time around and I found myself wondering why someone hadn't killed him before this point. He is not as charming as he would have me believe.

For readers looking for a Tudor mystery set in the back alleys of London, I would recommend this only if you are not overly concerned with the protagonist's moral leanings.

I have long been a fan of Michael Jecks. I have been an avid reader of his books ever since The Last Templar, the first of his Knights Templar Mysteries series came out many, many moons ago! Michael Jecks has a knack of transporting the reader back in time and subjecting them to a jolly good murder mystery, unhampered by any modern-day crime solving techniques. I also thoroughly enjoyed his Vintener Trilogy, set during the Hundred Years’ War. However, the Bloody Mary Mysteries,following the adventures of Jack Blackjack, are a new departure for him, in a way.

Michael Jecks has moved away from the 14th century into the heart of Tudor London and the reign of Mary I. However, the intrigue and suspense is still present – in abundance. With this series Michael Jecks proves that he is the consummate story-teller in whatever era he writes. His expertise at writing mysteries shines through on every page, keeping the reader guessing to the very last page.

The author has recreated Tudor London’s sordid underworld in fine detail, taking the reader through the backstreets and wharves, to the brothels of Southwark and the alehouses of the city, leaving the reader with a lasting (and not always pleasant) impression of the sights, sounds and smells of an overcrowded and tense London, uneasy at the marriage of their queen to a Spaniard and eager for the impending birth of a prince and Tudor heir.
Jack Blackjack is not your traditional, gung-ho, hero. He is worldly-wise, in many ways, though sometimes a little too trusting. He is cautious where heroes may just jump in and he has landed himself a job as a paid assassin, despite his dislike of the sight of blood. However, as a character he has a charm all of his own. He is a likable fellow, who seems to have a tendency to get himself into trouble without even trying. His adventurous take you on a journey through the seedier parts of Tudor London, introducing some of the most colourful characters you are ever likely to meet, including Mal the Loaf (so-called because of the bread knife he carries) and Ramon, a Spanish soldier with a sharp rapier and a desire to use it!)

Before you know it, the reader is drawn into Jack’s adventures, willing him to unravel the mysteries surrounding the death of a Spaniard, the disappearance of several purses of money and the confusion caused by a change orders sent by his employer, Master Blount.

Written in the first person, the writing style of A Missed Murder takes a little getting used to, but creates a more personal relationship between the reader and the book’s hero. As I have come to expect from Michael Jeck’s A Missed Murder is well written and thoroughly absorbing, taking the reader on an adventure through Tudor London which will not easily be forgotten.

OK, pay attention. Jack Blackjack, denizen of Queen Mary’s London, is a rogue who has landed himself a rather unsuitable job, namely an assassin for John Blount, a supporter of Princess Elizabeth. The reason that it’s unsuitable is that Jack is no killer – in fact, the idea of murder is anathema to him – but so far, he’s mostly gotten away with it. But events are once again conspiring against him.

When he is tasked by Blount with an assassination, Jack has an outstanding idea – outsourcing it to a partner, one with no qualms of murder. All seems set up, but while Jack is carousing and setting up his alibi, he receives a message from Blount – don’t go through with the assassination. A desperate dash through the city leads to Jack intercepting his partner, but then accidentally killing the intended victim anyway. So not only has Jack disobeyed his paymaster’s orders, he also happens to have another body to deal with, that of a Spanish visitor who was killed while in Jack’s company – and that Spaniard had some angry friends with some very sharp swords…


A Missed Murder is the third Jack Blackjack mystery from Michael Jecks, following Rebellion’s Message and A Murder Too Soon, and it’s a fascinating blend of genres. It’s an historical novel. It’s a murder mystery. It’s a spy thriller. It’s an adventure. It’s a comic romp (sort of). And on each of these levels, it works a treat.

After a complex flashback-within-a-flashback set-up, the story of Jack’s stunningly awful luck – some of it admittedly self-inflicted – is a real page-turner. It’s quite different from the Knights Templar series, with Jecks choosing to replace one of the strengths of that series, namely the telling of the story by showing the points of view of multiple characters, with first person narration. It was a risk to take, I think, but it pays off wonderfully. Jack is a complex character – it’s not easy for the reader to emphasise with a fairly amoral individual. Jack is no rogue-with-a-heart-of-gold, he is governed almost entirely by self-preservation, money and sex. But somehow Michael pulls it off – I was completely caught up in Jack’s predicament.

There’s a fascinating collection of characters along the way, mostly members of London’s underworld, and despite everything being, as I said, from Jack’s point of view, they still come across as fully developed individuals. One in particular caught my (and Jack’s) eye, Agnis, a messenger from Blount. It would be very easy to present her as a stereotype with a predictable outcome for her tale, but there are developments in the later part of her particular tale that reminds you that for all the unlikely goings-on, the characters still behave as real people would behave in the situations that they find themselves in.

It’s not a traditional mystery, but there is a whodunit element in the plot, and not just concerning the dead Spaniard. It’s a read that is both satisfying and entertaining. And of course, it is Highly Recommended.

A Missed Murder is out on 31st August from Severn House – many thanks for the review e-copy.

Amid a recent taste for historical novels with complex plots and weighty themes, Michael Jecks’ A Missed Murder is lighter fare in a series that nonetheless leaves the reader feeling a little dissatisfied.

Political turmoil may be dangerously imminent with Bloody Mary on the throne and Princess Elizabeth waiting in the wings, but common cutpurse Jack Blackjack has other problems. Hired as an assassin by a man linked to Elizabeth’s household, Jack finds himself in trouble when he accidentally kills the man he was meant to save. Caught up with a group of Spanish noblemen who are not what they seem, and with treachery on the streets of London, can Jack save his own skin and find the culprit in time?

With an action-packed opening on the edge of the Thames, Jack Blackjack’s third outing takes us deep into the heart of Tudor London, complete with seedy public houses and squalid gambling dens. It is a world far removed from the nearby royal court at Whitehall, but the consequences of decisions made there filter down through the grimy light of England’s capital to affect even the denizens of its stews and backstreets, described in entertaining detail by Jecks.

But despite the attention paid to his surroundings, our protagonist seems rather less fleshed out. Although Jecks attempts to give Jack a distinct voice within the novel, informing the reader of both his penchant for pretty women (in the basest of terms) and his horror at spilt blood, the character’s uncanny ability to stumble into danger time and again is less a demonstration of Jack as relatable everyman than a comment to be made on the author’s workmanship.

At first, we wonder if Jack is simply being disingenuous, playing the fool in order to lull the reader into a false sense of security and so (like any true swindler) pull the wool over our eyes – a feat of unreliable narration with real comedic potential. However, as the novel progresses we begin to suspect that Jecks’ quick sketch of Jack’s character will remain just that: a sketch to which no shades of light or dark are added. Though there are a few moments of insight, including a flash of empathy for the daughter of a gambling addict, these occur so rarely as to make the reader doubt Jack has actually learnt anything at all by the novel’s dénouement.

It is a problem of characterisation not helped by a convoluted plot, in which the same characters continue to appear but are never really given enough time to shine. Like Jack, they simply lack the definition necessary to interest the reader in their different personalities, and in a narrative broken up merely into sequential scenes (and not chapters), their presence serves more to confuse matters than to elucidate them.

Alongside a certain formulaic structure to each scene – in which Jack is knocked on the head, wakes up to recount a former misadventure that in some way relates to his current predicament, and then returns to the story we’re actually in – there is an uneasy relationship in the novel between the picaresque world of thieves and crooks in London’s sordid underbelly, and the greater historical events happening around them. When moments of historical significance do creep in, they are relayed in such a factual fashion as to make the character narrating them seem almost prescient, like some contemporary companion to Nostradamus.

Overall, there just seems to be a lack of integration in the novel, as the historical, comedic and crime-solving themes fail to mesh together into one cohesive plotline. Jack Blackjack might have convinced his spymaster he's a bonafide murderer, but when it comes to his lacklustre character, the reader isn't quite as fooled.

(Thank you so much to Severn Books and Crème de la Crime for offering me the chance to review this book; I received a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review).

Jack Blackjack, which is either a really cool name or a really lame one, is an assassin in the employ of the historic figure John Blount. Blount somehow managed to convince Jack to be an assassin for him, even though Jack is squeamish around blood and is an indifferent assassin at best. He really takes the job only because he would get paid a lot of money and he’s jonesing for better food, nicer clothes, and a big house (not that I blame him for that), and because he is rightfully concerned that Blount will kill him for turning him down. Jack is also a complete fuck-up. He was ordered to kill a guy, then that order was countermanded, but Jack manages to kill him anyway, completely by accident. All that happened even though he had really hired the father of his lover to do the actual killing for him. See above re: squeamish about blood. Now Jack is trying to get out of his self-inflicted mess alive. The plot thickens as he scrambles to do a job, avoid a job, and not become his own next victim.

It sounds pretty fun, right? You would be wrong. This was the first book by Michael Jecks I have read and I have to say, I think it will be the last. It’s disappointing, too, because the blurb honestly sounded like it would be so good. I thought Jack was not merely an unlikeable character but a revolting one. I am so incredibly sick of male narrators who are braggarts and arrogant and view women as objects. Within just the first few pages, there were a shit ton of comments made by the narrator about women and their vacant eyes and how that was a turn-on. Seriously, what the fuck? Additionally, there were tons of incredibly juvenile euphemisms for sex - hide the sausage, pounding the mattress, mattress galloping, that might appeal to immature audiences, but not, I think, to most adults. There were men in the 16th century would have appreciated a woman with some wits about her, who wasn’t just some vapid cow. So this attitude - by the narrator? By the author? - didn’t really capture the sense of the social mores. Women at the time were, indeed, not equal to men, and were sometimes viewed as objects. Hey, kinda like today! But there are plenty of examples, both from the contemporary literature and real life, of men who valued a strong, intelligent woman. Also, it’s kind of hard to overlook the fact that there was a woman on the throne at the time this book was set, even if she wasn’t the most popular, and was followed by another woman who was one of THE most popular and longest-reigning monarchs in British history. So even allowing for 16th century social mores, the rampant sexism is hard to stomach. It’s used often enough that I don't know if it is supposed to reflect the protagonist’s mindset or if it is the viewpoint of the author himself. The ubiquitous sexism also detracts from an already tepid plot that is lacking any meaningful historical detail. I know Jecks has a ton of books in another series, so it seems he’s pretty popular. Maybe this is an aberration and his other books are better, but I was thoroughly put off by this one and now have no interest in reading his other ones.

Jack Blackjack paid assassin of spymaster Blount is given a job to kill Jeffry a Spanish spy in London of 1555 a time of Queen Mary and Lady Elizabeth. The order is countermanded but due to unfortunate blundering by Jack, Jeffry is killed. Jack is not the most committed assassin and hires Humfrie (his father-in-common-law) to do his killing. Through the politics of the time Jack has no problem been given more assignments his only problem is not becoming the victim.
You follow Jack as he narrates his own story and really start to root for him to come out of this alive. The everyday life of this time period really comes to life off the page.
I was given an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I gave this title my best shot, but couldn't keep going with it. I'm tired of bragging male narrators who only mention women when they're looking at their chests. I also was disappointed by the lack of period detail.

Thankyou to NetGalley, Severn House and Michael Jenna for the opportunity to read an advanced readers copy of A Missed Murder.
I am a huge fan of historical fiction and Michael Jenny's books. This is why I jumped at the chance to read this book.
I really enjoyed this book. I thought the storyline was well thought out and moves along at a good pace. Michael Jenks makes Tudor England come alive.
Definitely a must read for fans of the genre. Michael Jenks does not disappoint.