1390 London and Crispon Guest is followed home by an unknown female who wishes to employ himto find her niece. Their meeting is disturbed by a monk with a dagger in his back. Holy relics, monks, ex-sheriffs abound but its Guest who must find the guilty parties.
An enjoyable mystery, which I liked but did not love. Not too sure I cared much for some of the characters but I might go back to the start of the series. This can certainly be read as a standalone novel.
A NetGalley Book ( )

Although the blurb is a bit over the top in referring to it as "medieval noir" (nothing really noirish about it except a femme fatale), its an interesting and entertaining piece of medieval crime fiction. Crispin Guest, once a knight of the court, now disgraced and pursuing a living as The Tracker, gets caught up in a series of murders of monks, the crimes apparently revolving around a sacred relic, the Holy Blood. Guest has to deal with a hated foe who is now in deep trouble, a bewitching female cat burglar, and a series of monks who know more than they are letting on, ably assisted by his faithful assistant Jack Tucker and the agile cross-dresser John Rykener as he attempst to return the Holy Blood to its rightful owner. Nothing startlingly sensnational, but the writing is strong, the plotting crisp and the characters entertaining. I really enjoyed and look forward to reading more in the series. ( )

Crispin at his best!

Once again, The Tracker, Crispin Guest is dogged by a mysterious holy relic. This time 'the Holy Blood of Hailes.' A Ciscurcian monk arrives at Crispin's door with a dagger in his back, and a holy relic in his hand! And that's not all, Crispin recognizes the dagger. And so it begins.
Why is it that these mysteries gravitate towards him? At one stage Crispin grimly ponders that, 'Nothing good ever came from association with relics, at least not for him. It was damnable how they kept turning up at his door.' As does a dead White monk of the Cistercian order just to add spice and intrigue. There seems to be a veritable plague of monks imbedded in this Tracker episode.
And let's not forget the last words of Crispin's friend Abbot Nicholas, ' ‘Forget what you think you know … Beware of what you find …’ ' words that haunt Crispin more than the relics. What will Crispin find and what is he really searching for? This is our ongoing exploration of Crispin, his strengths and failings, his personhood.
Jack Tucker is back, now a betrothed young man whose words of wisdom have occasion to bring Crispin up short. John Rykener appears (one of my favorite characters) and, most unexpectedly, the ex sheriff of London, no friend to Crispin, Simon Wynchecombe turns to the Tracker for help.
On top of this a rather mysterious woman enters Crispin's life and turns it upside down.
Another enthralling read. I continue to enjoy the interplay between Crispin and Jack Tucker. I love their verbal sparring, spiced with references to Aristotle and much grumbling from Jack. As always, Westerson's prose brings the streets of 1390's London vividly to life.

A NetGalley ARC ( )

This mystery was sent to me by Severn Press via NetGalley. Thank you.

Tracker Crispin Guest is interviewing a very pretty new client who wants to find her missing niece when a knock at the door presents him with a Cistercian monk mumbling his name. The man dies before he can utter another sound, the victim of a stabbing. And Crispin recognizes the murder weapon! It is none other than the dagger owned by his nemesis Simon Wynchecombe. After his prospective client flees the bloody scene and the sheriffs are duly informed of the crime, Crispin finds a curious object apparently dropped by the dying monk. It is none other than a reliquary containing the True Blood of Christ which should be in Hailes Abbey.

So begins another very enjoyable tale in the career of disgraced former knight and current medieval detective Crispin Guest. As he follows the clues to who murdered the Cistercian and why the relic is not where it belongs, he comes across more and more murdered white monks. The puzzle becomes more complex when the rivalry between Westminster Abbey and Hailes Abbey over which pilgrimage site has the better vial of Christ’s blood is revealed. (Hailes’ blood becomes liquid when viewed by true repentants and Westminster’s blood remains a rust-colored smudge no matter who views it, saints or sinners.)

And it doesn’t take Crispin long to figure out that his enticing young aunt is somehow involved in the whole business.

Crispin and his apprentice Jack Tucker, along with friends and enemies from earlier adventures, travel from London to Hailes and back again to find the answers. And Crispin may have met his own Irene Adler!

A most entertaining addition to Crispin’s canon. ( )