There’s something refreshingly innocent about Jeri Westerson’s work. Whenever I pick up a Crispin Guest book, I know there’s going to be an intriguing mystery, some strong familial bonds and at least two occasions where the relationship between Crispin and Jack makes me squeal.

Spiteful Bones is no exception.

My favourite duo is off on another adventure when a body is found in a wall, clutching a missing artefact and believed to be the servant accused of stealing it over twenty years ago.

Of course, there’s no straightforward mystery where Crispin Guest is involved. We have a disguised identity, a question of parentage and a villain who is prepared to do whatever it takes to remain hidden. Including going after those that Guest cares about, which raises the stakes a touch higher than in previous books now that circle of people has expanded.

As usual, it’s the characters which makes this work so effectively. Guest is such a great protagonist. I love his small reflections about getting old, especially sitting back and letting Jack chase the fiends while he waits for them to return. He’s as sharp as he’s always been though and isn’t ready to let matters go, despite his apprentice’s chiding.

With his son tagging along, I worried what that would do for the relationship between Jack and Guest, but nothing changed. Guest’s worry for Christopher is different: Jack knows the score and what he’s getting himself into; Christopher thinks it’s just a game. The subtle differences in the way he treats them is lovely.

The mystery does leave you guessing, although then unravels in one spur of the moment insight from Guest. You don’t mind though; it works for the setting, the pace and the feel of the story.

I think what really makes this books charming for me is that, despite multiple murders, there’s an innocence to them. The worst isn’t the blow to the head or the attempted murder, it’s calling someone a knave. I love it.

Spiteful Bones is the next in a long series. I haven’t read them all, only four or five. That is enough to give me insight into this world and these characters. I don’t think you need to start from the beginning, but you will get much greater insight if you have followed for a while.

If you’re after a delightful read to curl up with one afternoon (the books don’t take long to read), then I recommend Spiteful Bones and this entire series. It lacks the profanities and dark themes that I often associate with modern day murder mysteries and is a fun trip back into the past.

I could gush all day about the way Westerson transports you back and makes you part of this family; about the way the mystery is kept under wraps, with misdirection and sub-plots leaving you guessing throughout; about the father-son relationship between Guest and Jack, but I won’t. I’ll just highly recommend this book and leave you with one word: enjoy.

Spiteful Bones: A Crispin Guest Mystery – Book 14 by Jeri Westerson

232 Pages
Publisher: Severn House
Release Date: February 2, 2021

Fiction, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, British, LGBTQIA

Nigellus Cobmartin got more than he thought when he inherited the family home. A body is found hidden in the walls. They believe the body to be a servant who stole a relic and fled twenty years ago. Crispin Guest, known to all as the Tracker, is called in to investigate. He immediately notices the hands and feet were bound. This could not have been the missing servant. Crispin and his associate, Jack, must begin in the past and work their way into the present to solve this mystery.

The book has a steady pace, the characters are developed, and it is written in the third person point of view. This is 14th book in the Crispin Guest mystery series. There is a mention that readers should read the first book, Veil of Lies, so parts of the book make more sense. I read the first book before reading this book and agreed with the recommendation. If you like historical mysteries, you will enjoy this book.

The Crispin Guest mysteries never fail to capture readers. It was impossible to put down. (I did figure out the solution around half way through though.) I love the characters. Jack and his brood of little ones are so fun. I keep hoping that Crispin will eventually get the girl, but I really like how that situation is evolving. The setting is so intense. The books get right down in the grit and grime and dirt of the time period.
The only thing I didn’t enjoy was the last chapter. I get that the author is setting it up for the next book, but I thought the letter that Crispin gets at the end was enough of a teaser. I would have come back for the next book just to find out what was going on. I didn’t need the last chapter to entice me. Leave us guessing next time. :)

These books are a perfect combination of the world of knights and castles and a great mystery! Like Kathleen, as much as I love the setting and the history, it is the wonderful and diverse characters that make this series so delightful. I have very much enjoyed seeing how much Crispin and Jack have grown over the years, and it is wonderful as the series nears an end to see Crispin content in his life. One of my favorite characters is John Rykener and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing him featured so heavily in Spiteful Bones. This is a series not to be missed and each book just keeps getting better! I look forward to the next and final book in the series with both sadness and joy as it will be hard to see these characters go, but I am sure the final book will be amazing! If you haven’t read this series yet, get out there and check it out!

Crispin Guest is involved in a conundrum of a case. A body has been found plastered in the wall of his lawyer's house. By the relic found with him, it is a servant missing for twenty years. But then papers are burned, the missing servant's son is murdered and it is apparent that the murderer is still among the household! Add in blackmail and an old love, and things get really messy. Will Crispin manage to wend his way to the truth and survive? Read this title and find out!

“Spiteful Bones” earns 5+/5 Reliquaries...Compelling Page-Turner!

It’s 1398, and after years of struggling from his banishment from Richard II’s court and loss of everything he held dear, the former knight Crispin Guest has found much for which to be thankful: ample work as a tracker, respected in the community, a family, of sorts, and the opportunity to directly engage as father and son with Christopher Walcote. Although unable to do so publicly, he is comforted by the young man’s presence imparting some skill and knowledge and having the young man’s respect. A knock at the door heralds a plea for Crispin’s services, so with his son and apprentice Jack Tucker in tow, they head to the manor of Nigellus Cobmartin. Workman have discovered in the wall a skeleton, bound and gagged, and holding a gold and jeweled reliquary long thought stolen from Cobmartin’s father. With closer scrutiny it is revealed the skeleton to be a servant who, two decades earlier, was thought to have been the thief. The mystery is made more dire when Guest goes to review the daily records from the time finding them smoldering on the steward’s office floor. Someone, now, twenty years later, is intent on keeping the truth hidden.

Jeri Westerson’s newest Crispin Guest Medieval Noir Mystery book is the fourteenth well-written and engaging adventure. The book begins with an Author’s Note, Notes About Characters, and a Glossary providing some historical context, background, and definitions that newbies and regular fans should not overlook. The drama involving my favorite element—cold cases—is complex and compelling, well-written with sensory-laden description and dialogue that does well to submerse readers in the medieval era, manners, language, and speech. The steady pace incorporates clever twists and turns, and misdirection with minimal extraneous scenes to get in the way. It’s “old school” tracking (detecting) since high-tech forensic labs are 600 years into the future.

Beyond the fascinating world and drama created, it is Westerson’s rich characters, well-fitted for the medieval setting, that have made me a fan. Crispin Guest has evolved over the series becoming a sought after resource, yet he continues to live, in contemporary terms, paycheck to paycheck. He has built a happy, yet chaotic home life, able to engage with his son and act the fun uncle with his apprentice’s children. Jack, his apprentice, has matured and is more a younger brother and business partner. But the most interesting character is John Rykener (aka Madame Eleanor Cobmartin), and by expanding the character beyond a few lines the law rolls of 1395, Westerson has created a deeply complex, loving and loyal friend. This group of characters are diverse making the medieval world familiar and easy with which to identify. I love the series, and this book was a favorite...Sam Spade medieval-style!

Jeri Westerson continues her Crispin Guest investigations in medieval London under Richard II in Spiteful Bones. Guest was a nobleman who was stripped of his status due to disloyalty and become the Tracker of London. He is growing older and the reign Richard is growing darker. His friends discover a twenty year old murdered corpse in the wall of their home. Whodunit? Read this excellent historical mystery.

I really wanted to like this books. It sounds dark and exciting. Unfortunately, for me, I just couldn’t get into it, and therefore didn’t finish it. It just couldn’t hold my interest..

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

First Sentence: Nigellus Cobmartin stood in the courtyard of his family home – its garden walls crumbling, its arched windows overlooking the tired and weedy garden with its dead flowers and gnarled trees – and sighed.
Crispin Guest's house is filled with his assistant Jack, his wife Isabel, and their many children, as well as the satisfaction of watching grow and providing training for Christopher Walcote, the son he can never acknowledge. Into that tranquility comes Jack Rykener/Eleanor Cobmartin with an urgent summons. In restoring the home he inherited, Jack's "husband's" workers uncover a body holding a precious relic. The body had been bound and sealed within a wall for 20 years. It is up to Crispin to discover the killer while protecting the secret of Jack's true identity.

One can only appreciate when authors, particularly of historical mysteries, provide a section of "Notes About Characters," as well as a "Glossary." The sections are not only helpful but interesting in themselves.

No one stays the same age forever. Having characters who age, and whose life circumstances change, adds realism to the story, and much has changed for Westerson's characters. Readers of the series will appreciate that, but even new readers are given a sense of how time has progressed.

Westerson has a wonderful voice. Her dialogue is reflective of the period without being mired in it. She writes with a balance of humor and drama. It is interesting to see how, even in this period, forensic evidence was taken into account—"But it looks as if someone coshed him good. Aye, look at the wood of the uprights here. If he was still awake, there would have been scratches and scuffs from a struggle." One issue, however, is the frequent use of Latin phrases. While is it very appropriate to the period, an immediate translation of each phrase, as is often done by other authors, would not have been amiss. Still, there are lines which make one smile—"Sometimes, Jack, the Church, in all its wisdom, is lacking when it comes to compassion."

The relationships are enjoyable and add dimension yet don't overtake the plot. They provide richness and emotion. One becomes attached to the characters. There are times where one might question whether Crispin is too modern; too good, too noble. Yet, it is part of the development one has seen in the character and is part of what draws one back to the series.

"Spiteful Bones" presents an effective twist and an exciting climax. Historical mystery devotees will be pleased.

SPITEFUL BONES (Hist Mys-Crispen Guest-London-1398) – G+
Westerson, Jeri – 14th in series
Severn House – Sept 2020

I'm a huge fan of the Tracker and had high expectations about this novel. I wasn't disappointed as Jen Westerson never fails to deliver highly enjoyable and entertaining stories.
I was happy to catch up with the characters and the complex plot kept me hooked till the last page.
The mystery is solid and kept me guessing, the historical background is vivid and well researched.
I can't wait to read the next installment hoping there will be a lot more.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Crispin Guest--another fascinating mystery!

It's now 1398. The years are moving on for Crispin Guest, disposed knight. We and he feel the seasons turning. Just out of sight there are the strains of his lost life juxtaposed against the now and the comfort of what he has, what he's become. From Traitor to Tracker, from being stripped of all he had to reputable investigator.
For all this it seems in the background to his now, his past, present and future are colliding.
Crispin is older and wiser. I love the tender moments when he takes stock of his made family, Jack Tucker, his wife Isabel and their children. He now has a reputation to be proud of--The Tracker. He has a relationship with his son Christopher by Philippa Walcote, he is feeling content. It's been a long time for coming. It seems into this setting will come a pull from the past, but that story will be for our last view of him.
In the Now, Lawyer Nigellus Cobmartin and his companion John Rykener, known as Eleonor, discover a skeleton when doing renovations to Cobmartin's family home. They call in their friend the Tracker. I love Nigellus and Eleonor. Their relationship is warm and profound. Their story adds another dimension to Crispin Guest's life.
Now Crispin has a murder to solve, a twenty year old mystery that will reach from the past into the now and threaten those he holds dear.
On a more personal note, I've held this ARC in abeyance for a few months putting off reading it because I love Crispin Guest so much that I'm now delaying to the the last minute the pleasure of reading his latest story. How I'll cope with coming to terms with his last ever story I just don't know.

A Severn House ARC via NetGalley
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

Another adventure for Crispin Guest, the Tracker of London, at the end of the fourteenth century. The sights and smells (plenty of those) of the mediaeval city come alive on these pages as the author deftly portrays the variety of characters in this complex mystery. When a twenty year old skeleton is discovered in the walls of barrister Nigel Cobmartin's house, it sets in trail a path of detection which places in jeopardy not only lives in this and other eminent households but that of Crispin and his faithful assistant Jack. The clues are all there, but it's really the varied cast, high born and low born, who take centre stage in this excellent recreation of what life - nasty, brutish and short - must have been in Richard II's London.

A fun and complex read featuring a truly unique detective in Crispin Guest, a disgraced nobleman who now solves crimes with the assistance of his assistant Jack. It's 1398 London and a home renovation has turned up a skeleton so Crispin is called in by Nigellus, the home owner, to figure out first who the bones were and second who did it. Is it the servant who went missing twenty years earlier? Twenty years was a much longer time in the 14th century than it is today but memories are long and answering the questions brings danger. No spoilers from me. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. I've only read a couple of the books in this series and this would be fine as a standalone. Perfect for fans of medieval mysteries.

That this series has made it to 3 books is a miracle. The plot is thin, it is a very light read, the book has been padded out with extraneous historical detail to prove there was some actual research done. The book is far too preoccupied with issues other than the telling of a murder mystery - not for me, sorry.

#SpitefulBones #NetGalley

Crispin Guest is getting older, but still has it! Ms. Westerson has spun another tale of twists and turns that will keep you reading until it is over, and wishing for more. I do love the romantic side of this series, too, although it isn't meant for Crispin, he has Jack's family to dote upon. I like how loose ends are being tied up. I was thinking this was the last book in the series - but I was happy to see there is one more. This is definitely a must read in this amazing series, by a very talented author.

In 1930s London, restoration work on the home of Nigellus Cobmartin comes to a stop when a body is found behind one of the walls. Twenty years earlier The servant Wilfred Roke disappeared along with a sacred relic. At the suggestion of Nigellus’ companion John Rykener, Crispen Guest, the Tracker of London, is called in to discover the truth behind Roke’s death. With little to go on, Crispen and his apprentice Jack Tucker interview the staff to learn more of the circumstances of Roke’s disappearance and the rumors that circulated at the time. As the interviews occur, someone takes the opportunity to destroy the estate’s records for the year Roke disappeared. Crispen concludes that the murderer is still a part of the household and when another servant with a connection to Roke is murdered Crispen fears that Nigellus and John are in danger.. He has them moved to a safe location until the murderer is found, but this murderer is determined to find all those who might identify him and nowhere is truly safe.

Throughout Jeri Westerson’s series, readers have watched Crispen develop his reputation as the Tracker. Jack Tucker has matured from a young boy to a grown man with a wife and children. While Crispen never married, Jack’s family shares quarters with him and he has taken the role of the patriarch. He is now forty-three years old and as the investigation progresses he allows Jack to take on more responsibilities. Theirs is a relationship of trust and humor that makes this a most enjoyable tale.

Westerson paints a clear picture of life in 1300s London. This is the penultimate book in the series and ends with a look at the political situation and hints at the turmoil to come. Spiteful Bones will delight fans of historical mysteries and is highly recommended. I would like to thank NetGalley and Severn House Publishers for allowing my review of this book.

Spiteful Bones has Crispin Guest solving a tight little mystery. A skeleton clutching a missing relic is found behind a wall in a manor house in the process of being renovated. The owner, a friend of Crispin’s, appeals to the tracker to solve the 20 year old crime. Soon there is another murder and Crispin realizes that both deaths are connected and the solution to the first murder will point to the murderer of the second victim. He carefully follows the clues to a satisfactory conclusion.

This novel, the penultimate according to author Jeri Westerson, is more than a mystery. It is a setup for the final book. Westerson resolves some major issues. She shows Crispin very content with his life and he revels in the love lavished on him by the ever increasing family of his adopted son and partner Jack Tucker. He would be happy to grow old by this fireside. In addition, he has a meeting with Merchant Walcot, an honorable man who sets Crispin’s mind at rest about the woman Crispin loves and her son.

In the final pages, Crispin’s life comes full circle. He has a mysterious guest during the night. Henry Bolingbrook has just been banished by his cousin King Richard II and he asks Crispin to guard his father John of Gaunt, Crispin’s former patron. He cannot refuse. The final question is to be answered. Will Crispin spend his golden years surrounded by his friends and family in his little house in the Shambles or will he be swept up in court intrigue which will lead to the War of the Roses?

A nice mystery set in medieval England, the penultimate book in a series featuring a detective-like character and his assistants. I do rather wish the author had done more reading than what they apparently did on transpeople in the period, rather than simply taking a name and a tiny bit of information from a historical record and deciding to use that material to create a character without doing much additional research on the topic. This was an ok read, but lacking compelling enough characters or plot to make me want to read any more in the series. The characters were all dull and flat, the "twist" in the mystery could be seen miles away, and the ending, in which the main character becomes caught up in real-like historical events of the period, felt tacked-on and unnecessary.

My thanks to Jeri Westerson, Severn House Publishers and Netgalley for the ARC of SPITEFUL BONES.
What a romp through the 14th Century! This is the first novel I've read in this series and I now want to read the others. Totally absorbing. I loved the character of Crispin Guest, a once nobleman accused of treason. he is now the London Tracker in 1398. John Rykener and Nigellus (Mr & Mrs Cobmartin who live their lives completely out of the social norms) are renovating Nigellus' ancestral home.. A skeleton is discovered plastered into a wall holding a relic that disappeared many years before.. It is up to Crispin to find out exactly who murdered the person in the wall...and why. A fast pace and a compelling storyline. I really enjoyed the journey.

I absolutely love this series, and the 14th book is no exception. Medieval noir does not get any better, with Crispin Guest, Tracker of London, solving mysteries and murders (often involving holy relics) along with his very appealing apprentice, Jack Tucker. There are an abundance of very interesting secondary characters in these books, and this one features the always entertaining John/Eleanor Rykener, based on an actual historical figure. Although understandable, I am saddened that the author is ending the series with the next book, and I eagerly await that one. In the meantime, I continue to recommend this series to historical mystery readers, including this newest most enjoyable entry.