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Jay Ruud is the author of a new series of mystery novels revolving around the legend of King Arthur, featuring the venerable court spellbinder Merlin and his young assistant, the page Gildas, who investigate the crimes.
In real life, he is recently retired from his position as Professor and Chair of the English department at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, where he taught for thirteen years, prior to which he was dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota. He has a Ph.D. in Medieval Literature from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, is a long-suffering and finally redeemed Chicago Cubs fan, and believes that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.
Reviewed by Neil A White for Readers' Favorite
The Bleak and Empty Sea by Jay Ruud is a masterful retelling of the classic tale of Tristram and Isolde. Jay Ruud transports the reader back in time to magical Camelot and the court of King Arthur where Sir Dinadin, upon his return from Brittany, delivers the fateful news of the gallant knight Tristram's death. And as the fable goes, after arriving too late to save her poisoned lover, Isolde drops dead beside him of a broken heart. Or was it murder? Enter the wizard Merlin and his companion, the young squire Gildas. The two are summarily dispatched by a suspicious King Arthur across the channel to discover if foul play was involved.
Told through the eyes of Gildas, who plays Dr. Watson to Merlin's Sherlock Holmes, Ruud's intrepid sleuths encounter at court in Saint-Malo a full range of characters, each with a motive for wanting the two lovers dead. It is one thing to retell a fabled story of old and hold the reader's attention in a captivating manner; I think of David Malouf's Ransom and Barry Unsworth's The Song of the Kings as prime and exquisite examples. But what Mr. Ruud has achieved is the recasting of a love story for the ages into an unsuspecting and deliciously entertaining murder mystery. The Bleak and Empty Sea is a thoroughly compelling story brought to life through Mr. Ruud's exceptional writing that fully utilizes his extensive historical knowledge and keeps the reader guessing right up until the final pages. Here's hoping there is a sequel in the works.
