Consistently good

Fourteen of fifteen Crispin Guest stories finished and all have been worthy distractions from life’s turmoil. They may not be high literature but they are very enjoyable. I only regret one remains and her other novels’ settings aren’t my cup of tea. ( )

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.

A Severn House ARC via NetGalley ( )

This book was sent to me by the publisher Severn House via Net Galley. Thank you.

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? ( )

I hadn't know when I requested a review copy that Jeri Westerson's Spiteful Bones was part of an ongoing historical mystery series—but I was delighted to find out because that means I have lots of reading pleasure ahead of me as I go back to read the rest of the series.

Westerson's central character in this series, Crispin Guest, is the London Tracker, who investigates cases of murder and other crimes. A former nobleman who lost his rank and estates in a treason scandal, he has made an interesting life for himself which crosses class and social distances in ways that were uncommon during the series late-14th Century setting. Guest and the supporting cast have full back stories and are interesting as individuals, not at all the kind of "cardboard cutouts" that people some historical mysteries.

In this case, a lawyer finds a body interred in the walls of his home, which he is remodeling. His wife (who is a marvelous character—I'll say no more about them here) recommends that he ask Guest to investigate. The likely identity of the body is a former family servant, who disappeared twenty years ago, along with a valuable family reliquary.

I'm not an historian and can't speak to all the details, but I appreciated the moments when I could tell Westerson had gotten her period details right. For example, family and business records aren't kept in books; they're recorded on scrolls that are then piled on shelves, and each scroll has its own identifying leather label.

If you enjoy series mysteries, particularly those set in the Middle Ages, you're in for a treat with this series. The author warns that this title includes "spoilers" for some of the earlier titles, but I had no trouble following the characters and action despite it being my first experience with the series. Make your own decision about that. If you want to start at the beginning, the title you'll be looking for is Veil of Lies.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley. The opin ions are my own. ( )