Death
of a Cuckold Knight
Jake
Reynolds Book 2
by
B.R. Stateham
Genre:
Historical Fiction, Mystery
It
is 1915 and World War One is raging across Europe. A continent-wide
killing field consumes the flower of manhood for most of the nations
fighting in the trenches. Or in the air. Or on the high seas. In this
quagmire of death, one would think the act of murder would be the
last horror anyone would consider. Or committing the act of stealing
an incredibly rare, and priceless, painting. But for Royal Flying
Corps Captain Jake Reynolds, the act of thievery is a given. Jake
Reynolds is an art thief. A very talented art thief. He steals rare
paintings, replacing them with forgeries so exact no one can tell the
difference. But he is also unlucky. Unlucky in that, occasionally, he
stumbles into a homicide case he had no intention of getting involved
in. Like the one which involves him now. He finds the owner of the
unknown Rembrandt cruelly murdered in his own mansion. The rich man's
house staff have been cruelly dispatched as well. For Jake, when it
comes to murder, he cannot let it go. Some weird quirk of his
personality refuses to allow anyone to get away with such a heinous
crime. But the problem for him is this; how can he find the vicious
killers and bring them to justice without revealing his own felonious
act? Jake will find a way.
Death
of a Young Lieutenant
Jake
Reynolds Book 1
Meet
Captain Jake Reynolds – pilot, adventurer, art thief, spy.
In
the opening weeks of World War One, and as a member of the newly
formed British Royal Flying Corps, Captain Jake Reynolds is shipped
off to Belgium.
Roped
in by his squadron commander to prove the innocence of a young
lieutenant accused of murder, Jake also wants to steal a 14th Century
Jan van Eck painting.
The
problem is both the evidence and the painting are behind enemy
lines.
How
do you prove a man's innocence and steal a masterpiece while an
entire German army is breathing down your neck?
Praise
for Death of a Young Lieutenant
“Once in a while you come
across a novel that is different and unique. A novel that just
doesn’t quite fit into the same square and round peg holes, doesn’t
follow the formulas that the big guys set out for everybody and is so
well done structurally you need to take pause and enjoy it for the
gem it is.”
Praise for BR
Stateham
“Stateham's
fiction is solid, realistic and totally without pretention or
author's ego. He pays attention to detail at all times without making
the book hard going. A thoroughly enjoyable read that left me hungry
for more.”
B.R.
Stateham is a fourteen-year-old boy trapped in a seventy-one-year-old
body. But his enthusiasm and boyish delight in anything
mysterious and/or unknown continue.
Writing
novels, especially detectives, is just the avenue of escape which
keeps the author’s mind sharp and inquisitive. He’s
published a ton of short stories in online magazines like Crooked,
Darkest Before the Dawn, Abandoned Towers, Pulp Metal Magazine,
Suspense Magazine, Spinetingler Magazine, Near to The Knuckle, A
Twist of Noir, Angie’s Diary, Power Burn Flash, and Eastern
Standard Crime. He writes both detective/mysteries, as well as
science-fiction and fantasy.
GUEST POST
In
writing a historical-detective novel, it seems to me it is important
to anchor the tale of derring-do onto a rock of something actual
historical in fact. With the third Jake Reynolds novel, featuring
art-forger and reluctant detective Jake Reynolds, this is exactly
what I propose doing. The book is tentatively entitled, A
Killer in Uniform. But
the title may change as we approach its conclusion. But the
historical fact the novel's secondary story revolves around is not in
doubt. The kernel of historical truth is this; In 1911 an unemployed
artist down on his luck but currently working as a janitor in the
famous French museum, the Louvre, and three other associates of his,
on a quiet Sunday morning hid themselves in one of the many rooms of
the giant building until the crowds and most of the staff departed
for the day. When they did, they quietly left their hiding places,
found Leonardo di Vinci's internationally known masterpiece, The Mona
Lisa, and stole it. They lifted the heavy-framed Renaissance
masterpiece off the wall in one of the exhibition halls, cut the
painting out of its frame, and departed sight unseen and unreported.
As might be expected, the international uproar generated by this
daring theft was loud and demanding. Interestingly, the thieves tried
to sell the canvas to anyone who would accept their demands. None
were foolish enough to do so since no one in their right minds would
touch such a hot piece of stolen art. But . . . what if? What if
someone actually did accept the real masterpiece? But if they did,
how did they hide it from the rest of the world? And who accepted
such an incredibly find? Ah! The plot thickens, as they say.
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Great post - thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteInteresting setting.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the contest.