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The Demon's Parchment: A Medieval Noir

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Jeri Westerson presents readers with another winner in her medieval noir series with THE DEMON'S PARCHMENT.
Crispin Guest is a defrocked knight who has taken to the streets of London to earn his livelihood as "The Tracker." Crispin finds lost religious items and inadvertently delivers justice for the disenfranchised. The mean streets of 14th century London are his estate.
Crispin is hired by a Jew who is in London to treat the queen. The physician has had some ancient scrolls stolen from him and he is desperate to get them back without going to the authorities. On the way to make final arrangements for the quest Crispin helps pull the body of a male youth from the Thames. The boy has been strangled, sodomized, and his entrails were cut from his body. Three other bodies had been discovered and the Sheriffs of London agree to let Crispin find the killer.
As with previous stories, the crooked London streets are no match for the plot twists.
Mystery lovers this is one author you don't want to miss.
Nash Black, author of Indie finalists WRITING AS A SMALL BUSINESS and HAINTS.

London, 1384. Crispin Guest has been stripped of his knighthood and banished from Court after being involved in treason. Seven years on, he is scraping a living in the poorer parts of London as the Tracker, a finder of lost things. Although anything to do with the Court has been forbidden to him, Crispin seem to have ill-luck in clients and cases. This time the Queen's own physician comes to him about some parchements stolen from him. Jacob is a Jew and all Jews have been expelled from England a century before, but the King of course, can allow his own special dispensations. Crispin is as wary and as ignorant of Jews as most, although he's learned and traveled and had seen them in the distant lands he'd traveled as a knight. According to Jacob, he can't trust this task to the Court because the parchments contain spells for the making of a Golem and if known, would bring trouble (as in anti-Jewish hatred) to the Court, something everyone would like to avoid. As it is winter and business is slow and money is scarce, Crispin takes the case, despite misgivings.

Is there an unholy monster roaming through the dark nights of London? What about the four young boys who have been found murdered and mutilated? Crispin wants to solved those murders, too, but are they all related? What about the mysterious nobleman who is watching Crispin? Is he someone who can help, or someone with an opposing agenda, or the murderer? And how is Crispin to inquire into who may have stolen the papers when to be found at court could mean his death?

I am greatly enjoying this series so far. It adds to the drama and the suspense having a main character who lives in such a precarious position in society. The time period is also fascinating as it is filtered through the eyes of this unusual character. The mysteries have been good enough to carry things along in an exciting manner. I hope this series continues as I am certainly looking forward to the next book.

Crispin Guest is a great character. His friends and foes are likewise very compelling. The good ones you empathize with the bad ones you love to hate. You want Crispin to get his knighthood back but it wouldn't make as good a story so I'm afraid he's doomed to protecting the people of London and being at odds with the sheriffs and his old mentor John of Gaunt who's the closest thing to a father he's ever had. The first book was fairly good but this third book The Demon's Parchment was superb. The interweaving of the history of the Jews in Europe at the time and the fictionalized true story of the atrocities perpetuated on young children is fascinating and chilling.

Jeri Westerson is turning into the master, or should I say mistress, of Medieval Noir. Her latest adventure featuring Crispin Guest, a knight to remember, has the remarkable 14th Century sleuth searching for missing religious documents.

Hired by a Jewish doctor in a country that banned Jews more than a century earlier, the good doctor is using his skills to treat the Queen of England. But Jacob desperately seeks these ancient parchments because they might be the cause of a spate of grizzly murders of young boys in the city.

Crispin soon learns that these parchments might also be used to summon a golem, a thing of folklore that can be used for good or ill, depending whose hands form the lifeless clay into its fearful human shape. Crispin dismisses the legend until he sees one, or what he thinks is one.

Crispin's dilemma deepens when Jacob's unusual son gets under his skin and Crispin has to search not only for the parchments and the killer of the young boys, but also for the reason he can't shake the hold the strange young man has on him.

This story delves into regions not plumbed before. Westerson has done her homework and you will experience this far off land and feel like you've been there. It is well worth the trip.

I really love the Crispin Guest character so these books are very enjoyable reads. While some of this mystery was predictable - I figured out a lot of it - I still liked it b/c I really like the characters. And I like the time period. Keep them coming - I will buy the next Guest book.

This is my favorite book in the Crispin Guest series so far. Being a college student who just finished a world religions class, it was electrifying to read something for leisure that tied in with what I had learned in class about Jewish history in the middle ages. Being also a member of a family in which mystery novels are devoured daily, it was great to be able to recommend this delectable series to my family members, especially my grandmother who enjoys historical fiction as much as she does modern mysteries. A++ !

Jeri Westerson constructs a well-researched, unglamorized picture of 1380's London in which weather contributes to both the sense of place and suspense. Her excellent descriptions make real the squalor and deprivation in which many people lived. It also serves as a contrast between the protagonists of Crispin and Jack and nobility with whom they are involved.

This is the third book in the series, enough history of the characters is provided so new readers don't feel lost but starting at the beginning of this series is the best place to start. Factual history is effectively woven into the plot with Westerson using historical figures believably in their true persona. There is the complicated relationship of Crispin to John of Gaunt & King Richard. The major theme relates to the status of Jews in England. The portrayal of the bigotry and mistrust Jews and Christians had for each other was in play and superstitions ran high in both faiths.

The action and suspense, were effectively conveyed with writing that was intriguing and visual. Crispin and Jack are excellent characters. Master and servant yet dependent upon one another. I love Crispin as the protagonist, he is well skilled but flawed when he lets his pride get in the way of his common sense. By using this Westerson uses life lessons to add to Crispin's character growth that is so needed in writing a series.

If there was one negative I could think of it would be that this series is not produced in Audio format. This is a series that many visually impaired people would enjoy!

First Sentence: "He's still out there."

Crispin Guest was once a nobleman but backing the wrong side caused King Richard to strip him of his title and lands leaving him a veritable outcast living in near squalor. He, and his apprentice Jack Tucker, survive by Guest's skills which have earned him the sobriquet of "The Tracker" due to his reputation for finding anything. In this case, Guest is approached by a physician to the Queen. The man and his child are staying at the castle--dangerous territory for Guest--and are Jewish, which is rare as all Jews were expelled from England or forced to convert by Edward I in 1290. But need overcomes prejudice, and Guest agrees to search for missing parchments which may be associated with the recent spate of murders of young boys.

Jeri Westerson paints a well-researched, unglamorized picture of 1300s London in which weather is very effectively employed; contributing to both to the sense of place and suspense. Her excellent descriptions make real the squalor and deprivation in which many people lived. It also serves as a contrast between the protagonists of Crispin and Jack and nobility with whom they are involved.

Although this is the third book in the series, the enough history of the characters is provided so new readers don't feel lost. And what excellent characters are Crispin and Jack; they are master and servant yet dependent upon one another as well. Crispin is also an excellent protagonist in that he is skilled but not infallible and is inclined to let his pride overcome his common sense, yet he received quite a few life lessons which added to his growth as a character even though there were times he seemed unrealistically naive. Young Jack is so appealing in that he is not always brave, but is loyal.

Factual history is effectively woven into the plot with Westerson using historical figures very well and believably in their true persona. There is the complicated relationship of Crispin to John of Gaunt King Richard. The major theme relates to the status of Jews in England. The portrayal of the bigotry and mistrust both Jews and Christians had for each other was very much in play and superstitions ran strong in both faiths although it did feel a bit heavy-handed at times.

Scenes with action and/or suspense, even minor ones were very effectively conveyed with writing that was evocative and visual. Initially, the dialogue sounded too modern to my ear, but this was quickly remedied and progressed to conveying the flavor of the period without being a burden to the reader. I also felt there were a few unfortunate plotting decisions but none so much so as to take me out of the story.

"THE DEMON'S PARCHMENT" had a great number of strengths and a few weaknesses but is well worth reading by those of us who really enjoy historical mysteries.

THE DEMON'S PARCHMENT (Hist Mys- Crispin Guest-England-Middle Ages-1300s) - VG
Westerson, Jeri - 3rd in series
Minotaur Books, 2011

Because I really was not planning to, after I have read very bad review on the site I follow. But accidentally I discovered that this is the same writer whose contemporary mysteries I grew to love and a lot. When I say accidentally I mean that I have read it on her blog (mentioning her writing these medieval mysteries), I did not go search for it or anything like that :)

So now shocked as I was, I decided to go and buy the book and decide for myself. I am glad I did. I loved this one. I loved the characters, especially Crispin and Jack, I loved the fast paced story, loved how Jews in medieval England were portrayed. Yes, I think the writer made the main character's mindset way too anachronisticly compassionate in some ways. Sometimes he felt more as modern man to me than the medieval one thus I cannot fully call this story a historical, but you know what? This is the book where I dont really care whether this is a true historical or not, because characters were engaging and likeable and story was interesting.

In 1384 London, disgraced former knight Crispin "The Tracker" Guest earns a living finding missing things for clients. His assistant young street urchin Jack Turner tells him a man is outside acting as if he has doubts about entering their facility. Provencal Jewish doctor to the queen Jacob wants to hire the Tracker to locate and return to him stolen Hebrew manuscripts that the foreigner believes may be tied to some recent gruesome murders. Additionally, London sheriffs want Guest to track down a vicious serial killer who has strangled and disemboweled four boys.

Although he prefers to decline both cases, Guest needs the income so he begins his search for the documents and a serial killer. He soon finds the two investigations merge as Jacob implied they would when Guest meets a nasty giant who may be the mythical Golem protecting the Jews by killing those who would harm them.

In his third medieval tracking mystery (see Veil of Lies and Serpent in the Thorns), Guest is at his best as he works two inquiries that merge into a deadly scenario. The fast-paced story line brings alive late fourteenth century London during the reign of King Richard II. Adding depth is to see the city through the eyes of a visiting Jewish professional who performs a mitzvah to help his people but will learn from Guest that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Harriet Klausner