Serpent in the Thorns: A Medieval Noir [Hardcover]

Jeri Westerson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 29, 2009

Convicted of treason, Crispin Guest was stripped of his title, his land, his money and his friends. Now with only his considerable wits to sustain him, Guest works the mean streets of 14th century London, building a small reputation for his skill. In 1383, a simple-minded tavern girl comes to his door—a body was found where she works and she’s the only person who could have killed him. Except for the fact that the man was killed in place by a precisely aimed crossbow bolt. Making matters worse, the murdered man was one of three couriers from the French king, transporting a relic intended to smooth the troubled relations between France and England. Events quickly spin out of control and Guest now finds himself the prime suspect in the murder, one with terrible diplomatic implications. As the drumbeat of war between the two countries grow, Guest must unravel the con spiracy behind the murder to save not only his country, but himself as well.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Westerson's second medieval mystery to feature former English knight Crispin Guest (after 2008's Veil of Lies) works better as a suspense novel than as a whodunit. Implicated in a plot against Richard II, the disgraced Guest (aka the Tracker) has reinvented himself as an investigator for hire, with both private and public clients. One day in 1384, Grayce, a simpleminded scullion, seeks Guest's help because there's a dead man in her room at the King's Head Inn in Southwark. Grayce claims she killed the man, who turns out to have been a French courier bearing a gift for the English king—the legendary Crown of Thorns, rumored to have been worn by Jesus and to have the ability to confer special powers on its wearer. The Tracker soon finds himself in a political tempest. Westerson's mix of period terms and American tough-guy prose—at one point an archer asks the detective, Didn't you use to be somebody?—may grate on the ears of some historical fans. (Oct.)
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Review

Westerson adds flavor to the tale by enhancing the relationship between Guest and his young helper. Readers who can't get enough of medieval historicals will snap this one up. --Library Journal

Distinctively entertaining --Kirkus Reviews

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; First Edition edition (September 29, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312534981
• ISBN-13: 978-0312534981
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,071,810 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Hey, thanks for stopping by.

I'm Jeri Westerson and I write medieval mysteries with an enigmatic, flawed, sexy, and very different protagonist. His name is Crispin Guest and he's an ex-knight turned private eye. You might want to think of him as a Medieval Sam Spade and these mysteries as Medieval Noir. That's what makes these novels different. They're full of hard-hitting action and characters with dirty little secrets. Then there's the added twist dropped in the middle of murder: a relic with mystical powers. They always seem to stir things up, whether it's something everyone wants to get their hands on or can't wait to get rid of.

Book one, VEIL OF LIES, was released in 2008 to critical acclaim. The Boston Globe called my detective, "A medieval Sam Spade, a tough guy who operates according to his own moral compass and observes with detached humor...this book is pure fun." Booklist said, "...this authentically detailed medieval mystery has an intriguingly dark edge." Library Journal gave it a starred review: "...Westerson's mystery debut is a brilliant tale of survival in a hostile environment, where anything can lead to death...Highly recommended." Historical Novel Society Review made it an Editor's Choice title: "...To say Veil of Lies is a remarkable novel doesn't do the book justice. Just when the plot seems set on a fixed course, the author deftly arranges another neat surprise and keeps the pages turning..." VEIL OF LIES was shortlisted for the 2009 Macavity for the Sue Feder Historical Mystery Award and for the 2009 Shamus for Best First PI Novel, the first medieval mystery to be so honored with a nomination.

The second in the series is SERPENT IN THE THORNS. Kirkus Review called it, "Appealing...Crispin's derring-do is distinctly entertaining," while Library Journal said, "Readers who can't get enough of medieval historicals will snap this one up." SERPENT IN THE THORNS was also shortlisted for the Bruce Alexander Historical Mystery Award and the Macavity.

The third in the series is THE DEMON'S PARCHMENT. Library Journal gave it a starred review and said * "Westerson skillfully lulls her sleuth and the reader into a sense of 'I know what is going on,' then zings them with the truth. Absolutely first-class; highly recommended for fans of medieval mysteries." It was also shortlisted for the Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award and The Bruce Alexander Historical Mystery Award.

The fourth in the series, TROUBLED BONES will be released Oct 11. Bestselling author John Lescroart called it "creative and enthralling." Be looking for it this fall.

I also have a short story in the new anthology SHAKEN: STORIES FOR JAPAN, along with a slew of other mystery authors. This book is only available on Kindle. 100% of proceeds go to Japan earthquake relief.

Some personal facts: I was born and bred in Los Angeles inhaling smog and enduring earthquakes. I've been writing fiction for some time, became a freelance reporter, published award-winning short stories, and am scribbling away at the Crispin Guest series. (You can read excerpts at www.JeriWesterson.com or read about Crispin's life on his own blog at www.CrispinGuest.com or "Friend" him on Facebook.)

Besides writing I am a public speaker, artist, singer, wife, and mother. I am on the board of directors for the Southern California chapter of Mystery Writers of America; I am president of the Orange County Chapter of Sisters in Crime and a member of Sisters in Crime Los Angeles chapter; I am a member of Private Eye Writers of America and the Historical Novel Society. I live with my photographer husband, wave at my twenty-one-year-old son in college, and herd two cats, one tortoise--and the occasional tarantula-- in my home in Southern California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Crown of Thorns, October 9, 2009

By 

Nash Black "Troubadour" (Jamestown, KY) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Serpent in the Thorns: A Medieval Noir (Hardcover)

Jeri Westerson has penned A SERPENT IN THORNS to extend her opening medieval noir mystery, A VEIL OF LIES. Crispin Guest, a dishonored knight, is yanked from a bad hangover to come to the aid of a simple scullery maid who claims she killed a man in her room.
He finds the body of a French courier with an arrow in his throat with a special gift from the King of France to the young Richard II. A swift search of the man's belongings shows he was not robbed and the gold casket containing the famous crown of thorns is intact. Crispin's first allegiance is to his client and her sister who pays his fee.
Many men want the gift to insulate themselves with the king, who as a child stripped Crispin of his lands and knighthood. Crispin wants the truth and to regain his knighthood. The plot is intricate and fast paced, it will keep you glued to your chair as you follow Crispin and his London slums servant through the dark allies of London to the hall of the King in search of answers. The Tracker finds lost things and discovers answers he may not want to obtain from the world of Court politics.
The previous reviewer should check KINGS, RULERS, AND STATESMEN p. 187-188 for verification of time periods, as I did when her review puzzled me.
Nash Black, author of Indie Finalists WRITING AS A SMALL BUSINESS and HAINTS.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Crispin Guest's Second Outing Excels, December 7, 2009

By 

Nancy Adams - See all my reviews

This review is from: Serpent in the Thorns: A Medieval Noir (Hardcover)

The one-word review: Wow! I was gobsmacked, knocked out, my socks knocked off, too by the excellence of Ms. Westerson's book and moved to tears by its pitch-perfect ending. Not only is it one of the best books I've read this year, but SERPENT IN THE THORNS has just joined the select ranks of my personal all-time best list, equaling this year's other big find for me, Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden series, in its big heart and soul and its non-stop action involving the beleaguered hero in ever-escalating peril as he struggles to do the right thing.

From the beginning we are plunged into 12th-century London in all its sensory squalor and splendor with details that never overwhelm characters and story but place them in a satisfyingly realized culture and milieu that transports the reader as if s/he had stepped into a time machine. I was hooked from the opening paragraphs where Crispin Guest, disgraced former knight, wakes from a hangovered sleep to confront a lower-class woman pleading for help. His new title and profession is "the Tracker," a man who finds missing objects and investigates crime. The new client's problem? There is a dead man in her room and she has no idea who he is. From there, the pages fly under our fingers and the action never stops.

But like Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden series, the non-stop action is grounded in the deeper themes of honor and what makes life worth living, themes that play throughout the book in the fully realized, three-dimensional characters of Crispin and his friends and foes. The course of redemption that Crispin charts is reminiscent of William Monk's progress in Anne Perry's well-loved series. Unlike Monk, Crispin has his memories intact--indeed, too much so for his own comfort--and unlike Monk, he has little of which to be ashamed, but his new life among London's lower classes has taught him to look at his fellow creatures through new eyes, to see other people as beings like himself rather than tools he may call upon to serve his own pleasure. Like Monk, Crispin Guest has learned compassion. Like Monk, he is a new man leading a redeemed life.

But all this is accomplished with a light touch that eschews any taint of preaching or sentimentality, beneath the surface of a swashbuckling, action-packed story full of colorful characters, colorful settings, and colorful language replete with salty olde English expletives. Ms. Westerson should be proud.

Nancy Adams

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Danger on the Mean Streets of Medieval London and Death and Intrigue at Court, November 20, 2009

By 

A. Lee (L.A., CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Serpent in the Thorns: A Medieval Noir (Hardcover)

Set in London in 1384, this is the second in the Medieval Noir series (the first being VEIL OF LIES), featuring Crispin Guest, formerly a knight and protege of the powerful John of Gaunt, but stripped of his title and his lands when involved in a treason plot seven years before, his life saved only by intervention by his powerful patron. Crispin now roams the slums of medieval London, scraping out a living as a Finder (a sort of inquiry agent of his time period), or for whatever else his skills make him worth hiring. So, when a simple-minded tavern girl finds a dead man in her room whom she thinks she must have killed since she was the only one present (ignoring the fact that he was killed by an arrow and she does not have a bow), she runs to Crispin for help. The dead man turns out to be a French courier, in charge of a sacred relic meant as a gift for young King Richard II, without which both countries threaten war. Crispin wonders if he can work his way back into the King's favor if he returns the artifact... or better yet, find out who is behind a threat to the King's life-- only to find himself accused of attempted murder himself.

An assassin is loose in London and Crispin is in for lots of action and bodily harm in evading authorities and attempts on his life. He must deal with dangers on the mean streets of London as well as the even more hazardous maze of a Court full of intrigue and international tension. The mystery of the dead courier and the possible assassin is complicated by the return of a figure from Crispin's past--the one man who led him into the treasonous plot that ruined his life. The setting seems true to period as well as figuring convincingly as a noir-like background. Crispin's fall from wealth and power and his new-found life among the lowest of the low make for a dramatic back-story that also impacts the mystery plot and lends an extra dimension to the tale.

I thought the first book was an excellent beginning to a promising series. This book was not quite as good (Crispin's thoughts and feelings didn't quite come through as convincingly or as well, but it's a minor quibble), but I still think this series looks to be a good one, well worth the read.