THE MERCHANT MURDERERS

A cowardly assassin repeatedly escapes death as he tries to return to London.

Arriving in Exeter in August 1556, Jack Blackjack immediately stumbles over a dead body. Jack had left London and his employment as Lady Elizabeth Tudor’s hapless hired killer hoping to escape the dangers of political skulduggery unleashed by the reign of the Catholic Queen Mary as she turns the country away from her father’s religion. As he looks for a horse to take him to London, he’s horrified to find himself caught up in the murder of a priest of the new religion while vendettas unspool between several merchants who’ve recently lost valuable ships. He falls in with the son of one of those merchants and his friend, who introduce him to noisome taverns and a higher-class house of prostitution. When his purse is snatched by a young girl, his better nature leads him to buy her a meal. His efforts to obtain a horse become more desperate as he becomes unwillingly entangled in the affairs of the town’s ruling class. Following a suggestion, he attempts to return to London by ship only to find that he’s being sent to France. After the ship is attacked by pirates, he barely escapes back to Exeter, where he’s once more embroiled in trouble from which he can extricate himself only by solving the murder of the priest.

The comical hero provides an amusing instrument for exploring the mores and history of the period.