Spiteful Bones

“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!

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.