99 of 120 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Loved the premise, disliked the book, December 21, 2008
I read a lot of mysteries, and devour historical mysteries as fast as they come out. I have a lot of tolerance for even mediocre examples of the genre, simply because the combination of two my favorite forms of reading -- history and mystery -- makes it irresistible. The idea of a "degraded" knight as the protagonist was also intriguing (although in England, as of 1793, there had only been three of these extremely rare creatures).
But -- the first chapter of this book was so bad and so badly written that I could barely battle my way through to subsequent ones. And I eventually gave up halfway through because I found that I didn't particularly care about Crispin or his fate.
For starters, there is the bad writing. As one reviewer noted, the opening sentence sets the tone for the book - the London rain that is thicker and harsher than country rain. Then we have our protagonist feeling at "little trill in his belly". (Does the author mean thrill? chill? A trill is a musical term, most often used to refer to the sound made by a bird; never used to describe a sensation -- although perhaps Crispin's belly was singing?) Then there are the lengths she goes to in order to avoid ordinary words like "walked" -- someeone "trudged out", someone else "strode" to the door. Any word except the ordinary one -- a hallmark of overly-florid writing. The mood shifts of the wealthy merchant who has summoned Crispin to help him discover whether his wife is cheating on him are astounding -- he is agitated, then his face hardens -- and suddenly he is in tears. Then he starts to hiss angrily. Finally he smiles apologetically. It would be one thing if we had Crispin noting these mood shifts as being unconvincing -- it would pique the reader's curiosity, at least.
Finally comes the clincher: the merchant (who oddly, after summoning Crispin, has to introduce himself to the former knight), presents him with a miniature of his wife. Miniatures in the form the author describes didn't exist for another century or so in Europe (and even in Persia, they took different forms.) The only miniatures that were readily available were those inscribed within the capital letters of manuscripts by the monks who crafted them, and sometimes would use the face of a patron as the basis for a saint's image, or simply include the image to honor them. This is a complete anachronism.
This is only the first chapter. By then, I had lost a lot of interest in the book, I confess, and my irritation with it had grown significantly with each page I turned. Any single flaw -- the self-conscious & uneven writing, the problems with character, the anachronisms -- could have been overcome. But chapter after chapter, all three persisted until I ended up flinging the book against a wall and consigning it to perdition. There are still enough good medieval mysteries out there that I don't have to put up with something third-rate.
Yes, this may sound harsh, but I'm not being particularly picky here. I will give an author a free pass on awkward writing and or plot wobbliness if he or she is able to grab my attention and hold it. It's not a high threshold, but the author didn't meet it. The writing felt strained, the plot was paper thin, and everywhere her efforts to craft a story showed through.
I hate writing a negative review, but when I have spent several hours trying to read something that I dislike so much, when I could have devoted that time to something better...
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28 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A page-turner, October 29, 2008
I loved this story. I used to read a lot more mysteries than I have lately, finding many wanting. This is the first time in a few years that I was sorry to reach the last page of a mystery novel. The author's prose is elegant without being stilted, historical without being fussy. Her characters are fascinating. I really enjoyed the glimpse into common life in the Medieval era, and the use of a religious relic as a driving force in the book was very clever. It also had a surprise-filled plot that still made sense. I'm looking forward to the next book, which I'll also probably finish before I want to reach the end.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"A Knight there was, and that a worthy man...", February 9, 2009
Set in 1384, London, Crispin Guest was formerly a knight and protégé of the Duke of Lancaster, but was stripped of his title and lands--everything, when embroiled in a treasonous plot against the young King Richard II. Now he scrapes by, hiring himself out as a Tracker, a finder of people and items. He's hired by a reclusive merchant to find out if his wife is unfaithful, a case he only takes out of desperation. The merchant is found murdered the next day, in a locked room. Crispin's sense of justice impels him to continue to investigate the murder. In the meantime, the merchant's wife wants him to find a hidden holy relic that she fears and dislikes and wants removed from the house.
The mystery twists and turns, from the classic locked-room to foreign agents and crime syndicates, ancient conspiracies and forgeries, theft of taxes, secret identities, and much more, without being too unbelievable or needlessly complex. Crispin, as a former knight who has seen battle and commanded men, is able to hold his own on the rough streets of London with its cut-purses and thugs and riotous citizens. There is action as he fights for his life or merely gets roughed up by the Lord Sheriff and his men. And there is some love-interest in the merchant's beautiful wife.
Crispin's past makes for an intriguing character. He is learned and quotes philosophers, he also knows the powerful in the land, even though he cannot make contact because of the association with treason. He's had eight years to familiarize himself with the streets of London, so he's a rare creature of disparate worlds.
I enjoyed reading this book and will greatly look forward to any sequels.
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