1358, France. In the midst of the Hundred Years War, King John II of France is the prisoner of the English. As bands of English soldiers roam the countryside pillaging anything that isn’t nailed down – and doing much worse – King Charles of Navarre is seeking to take the throne for himself. But France is a land where loyalties will shift at the drop of a beret (sorry).

John Hawkswood, previously of Sir John de Sully’s Vintaine, leads a free company of men and boys as they navigate the battlefields, haunted by a shadowy figure stalking their every move. As two newcomers from England join the company, they come face to face with the horrors of war…

And welcome to an edition of my sister blog, In Search Of The Classic History Novel. Second time we’ve been here in a couple of months, but it’s a bit different from when Douglas Skelton tricked me into reading the mystery-free Ship Of Thieves. It was a cunning plan, writing four impressive previous historical thrillers and making me thoroughly enjoy a book that didn’t have any element of whodunnit to it. This is different, though, as friend-of-the-blog Mike Jecks just asked me if I wanted a review copy of this one. No pretending that this was a mystery, “just” a tale of life in the middle of a war. I’d read the first in the series, so I was more than willing to give it a go.

So what to say about this one? Well, there’s something that I want to mention, but I won’t. It’s not in the blurb and for long-time readers of Mike’s historical mystery series set in the 1320s… well, there’s something fairly major here that you might want to read about. I did something of a double-take when I came across it and it makes me look forward even more to something that’s on its way next year…

And just like the Templar series, Jecks juggles multiple characters and multiple viewpoints with such an impressive skill. It’s something that’s missing from his other series as they tend to be focussed on the sleuth’s point of view and I’d forgotten who good he is at it. There’s no dramatis personae at the front of the book but I never had any problem recalling who was who. There’s no end of incident here and it’s gripping stuff.

Oh, and you know what? There is a bloody mystery here too, hidden in plain sight and just like in one of my favourite books, I didn’t spot it even existed until it was solved. Blimey, Mike, you’re a tricky devil… Admittedly it’s only a small part of the narrative, but it’s every present (in hindsight).

So fans of historical fiction, look no further for your next hit of medieval carnage.

Ashes Of Rebellion is out tomorrow from Boldwood Books. Many thanks for the review e-copy.