Welcome back, Crispin and Jack. London 1398. Jeri Westerson’s Spiteful Bones (Crispin Guest #14) has the Tracker and his apprentice, Jack Tucker, who is now the father of four with his wife expecting again, investigating a 20 year old murder. Crispin, now in his forties ( The time has gone quickly for me.), is feeling the aches and pains of his age and his job as Tracker of London which definitely has not been an easy vocation. Crispin and Jack are called to investigate this 20 year old murder by Crispin’s friend, John Rykener who is a true person of history and his ‘husband’, Nigellus Cobmartin, a second son who has just inherited the family ‘pile’ which is in an extremely rundown state. As Nigellus, a lawyer, and his ‘wife’ Eleanor aka John Rykener when dressed in woman’s clothes, begin renovating Nigellus’ family home, the workers discover a skeleton holding the family’s religious relic when they knock down a plastered wall. 20 years before this relic was stolen by a servant, Wilfred Roke. A scandalous family event. Upon this discovery, John aka Eleanor runs the the Tracker, Crispin, his good friend, to solve this. Thoroughly entertaining! 5 stars.
The author states in the ‘author notes’ that there will be one more installment and the last 😢, The Deadliest Sin. Please note the year 1398. In 1399 a major event in British History takes place. I am sure that Ms. Westerson will incorporate this event in her last Crispin Guest novel - completing the circle! Spiteful Bones (Crispin Guest #14) Another delightful outing -- Crispin uses all his wits to solve this one, and it's more of a real murder mystery than seems at the offing. All the family is there to help, too, which is always a plus.
An author's note gives us a glimpse of the future, where things are drawing to a close, it would appear.
Medieval historical mysteries are well represented by the Crispin Guest series. Ms. Westerson has always given her readers a real sense of time and place with the Tracker of London and his books, and this is no exception. Spiteful Bones (Crispin Guest #14) My heart is breaking that this series is coming to an end! Each book is better than the last, and Spiteful Bones was a fantastic read. I am hoping that Jeri Westerson will reconsider ending the series after book 15. Spiteful Bones (Crispin Guest #14) Some fun characters from the past feature in this story, the 14th instalment of Westerson’s Crispin Guest medieval noir series. Nigellus Cobmartin has inherited his father’s house upon the death of his older brother. He and his lover, the delightful John Rykener (under the guise of Eleanor) are in the process of restoring it, the house having fallen into disrepair. The workers discover a gruesome scene - a skeletonized body tied up within the walls of the manor house. It is determined that the body belonged to a former servant who the Cobmartin household thought stole a relic and then took off with the wife of another servant. At the same time, Nigellus and John are victims of extortion, under threat of their lifestyle being exposed if they fail to pay the unknown villain. But nothing is as it appears at first glance, and so Crispin and his apprentice, Jack Tucker, find themselves on the hunt for an extortionist who may also be a murderer.
The character development over the course of this series has been excellent. Crispin is now in his forties and is beginning to feel the effects of a hard and active life, though he rails against it. Jack is taking on more of the lead role in the sleuthing duo and is the image of a young and vital man. There were a few times that he saved Crispin’s neck, literally and figuratively, and while it was lovely to see, I also miss little boy Jack even as I revel in the upstanding man he has become.
Crispin himself has long since accepted that he is no longer nobility and has made a family for himself with Jack, Jack’s wife Isabel, and their growing brood of children. He seems content enough with his lot and takes pleasure in the simple joys in life in ways he was unable to do before. One of his greatest joys is in his son, Christopher, who he is unable to acknowledge. His friends, too, are his joy, and he throws himself into investigating who would murder a friend’s servant, driven to protect those he loves.
As always, Westerson creates vivid scenery in her settings. It is easy to picture the sights (and, unfortunately, the smells!) of the Shambles and other places in medieval London. The strength of her descriptive writing is exceptional and that, along with complex character development, have made Westerson one of my favorite authors. She creates characters readers genuinely care about and then develops them into rich and multidimensional people, even secondary characters.
Take, for example, Nigellus Cobmartin and John Rykener. Nigellus is a fictional character, but Rykener was a real man who dressed as a woman and was a whore and a skilled embroideress. Their relationship, while it may seem implausible to us given the time period they were from, could well have happened. Rykener was listed as having a husband in one of the documents Westerson referenced, though the man was not named. Why not let the husband be Nigellus? There have always been LGBT people, even if they had been vilified, shunned, or even killed at various points in history. A lack of understanding does not mean they didn’t exist, and there is plenty of documentation to prove it. I think it is really important to discuss social issues in all their many elements, but literature is an ideal medium in which to do so.
Readers get to know both Rykener and Nigellus over the course of a few books, and can see them as people rather than ideas, mere figures on a page, or solely by their sexual identity. Having other characters like Crispin sometimes struggle with how they see Rykener helps create depth but also gives a nuanced examination of our own society. A long-winded way to say that I love their relationship, the characters themselves, and how Westerson approached it.
I was sad while I was reading this story because I thought it was the final entry in the Crispin Guest series. But I was wrong! There is one final adventure to share with Crispin, Jack, and friends, The Deadliest Sin, which Westerson’s website says will be released in 2022.
In the meantime, I highly recommend this book, as well as the rest of the series, to anyone who loves a good, complex, brooding protagonist and a delightful cast of secondary characters.
Reviewed for Discovering Diamonds
Spiteful Bones (Crispin Guest #14) Another really good entry in this mystery series set in late 14th century London. The author states in the afterwards that this she in winding up the series and that this is the second to last book of the series. The plot finds Crispin investigating a 20 yr old murder when a skeleton is found in the walls of a house that is being renovated. As usual some interesting characters include John Rykener, a form male prostitute who has set up house keeping with the owner of the home as his wife. Rykener has been a reoccuring character in the series, but in this novel has a much more prominent role.
One of the hooks of the series has been relics that may or may not have mystical powers that affect the plot. This novel does had a relic, a lock of St. Elmo's Hail, but it has no mystical powers. It seems as if the author included it, just because every novel in the series has had some kind of relic in it. It really plays a very minor role in the story.
The novel ends with Crispin meeting with Henry Bolingbroke as he is being banished. I am pretty sure this is setting up the final entry to the series. I am really looking forward to the last entry as Henry Bolingbroke and Richard III meet there fates.
All in all another really good read and a great way to spend a few hours. I found this to be a 4+star read. Spiteful Bones (Crispin Guest #14)
READ Spiteful Bones (Crispin Guest #14)
The restoration of a crumbling manor house leaves Crispin Guest grappling with a troubling discovery in this entertaining medieval noir mystery. Restoring his recently inherited family home is a daunting enough task for young lawyer Nigellus Cobmartin without the addition of any unwelcome discoveries. But when workmen turning the crumbling manor house into a grand home for Nigellus and his companion, John Rykener, uncover a skeleton bound, tied and hidden in the wall - and holding the precious relic that went missing from his father's estate nearly twenty years ago - Nigellus immediately calls on London tracker Crispin Guest for help. Whose bones are they, and why was the valuable relic buried with the thief? Crispin and Jack are drawn into a mystery of dark secrets, family scandal and old grudges as they attempt to find the truth behind a load of old bones. Spiteful Bones (Crispin Guest #14)
Crispin Guest and Jack are two of my all time favorite historical mystery characters! I wish that this series would last forever. Spiteful Bones (Crispin Guest #14) I always enjoy the books in this series (and am already dreading, that the author says the next one is going to be the final one). I took off one star because I guessed the “mystery” early on: and I thought the resolution of it was a bit rushed and too neatly done. Spiteful Bones (Crispin Guest #14) I absolutely love these books. In this latest one Guest is called on when a body is found walled up in a house. It's been wonderful to see all these characters grow and change over time with newer ones coming i such as illegitimate son Christopher. There are the usual twists and turns and as usual nothing is as it seems. I particularly enjoyed reading more of John Rykener's/Eleanors relationship. Jeri mentions at the end how the real life John/Eleanor is being discussed as possibly trans. I looked them up on wikipedia and the story is fascinating in how trans people were viewed in medieval times although as it states it's mostly through court documents so there is a lot of reading between the lines.
As usual a real page turner, I read it far too fast and now am waiting for the sadly final chapter in this series. I think beforehand though I'm going to go back and do a reread of them all. Love it. Spiteful Bones (Crispin Guest #14) First Sentence: Nigellus Cobmartin stood in the courtyard of his family home – its garden walls crumbling, its arched windows overlooking the tired and weedy garden with its dead flowers and gnarled trees – and sighed.
Crispin Guest's house is filled with his assistant Jack, his wife Isabel, and their many children, as well as the satisfaction of watching grow and providing training for Christopher Walcote, the son he can never acknowledge. Into that tranquility comes John Rykener/Eleanor Cobmartin with an urgent summons. In restoring the home he inherited, John's husband's workers uncover a body holding a precious relic. The body had been bound and sealed within a wall for 20 years. It is up to Crispin to discover the killer while protecting the secret of John's true identity.
One can only appreciate when authors, particularly of historical mysteries, provide a section of Notes About Characters, as well as a Glossary. The sections are not only helpful but interesting in themselves.
No one stays the same age forever. Having characters who age, and whose life circumstances change, adds realism to the story, and much has changed for Westerson's characters. Readers of the series will appreciate that, but even new readers are given a sense of how time has progressed.
Westerson has a wonderful voice. Her dialogue is reflective of the period without being mired in it. She writes with a balance of humor and drama. It is interesting to see how, even in this period, forensic evidence was taken into account—But it looks as if someone coshed him good. Aye, look at the wood of the uprights here. If he was still awake, there would have been scratches and scuffs from a struggle. One issue, however, is the frequent use of Latin phrases. While is it very appropriate to the period, an immediate translation of each phrase, as is often done by other authors, would not have been amiss. Still, there are lines which make one smile—Sometimes, Jack, the Church, in all its wisdom, is lacking when it comes to compassion.
The relationships are enjoyable and add dimension yet don't overtake the plot. They provide richness and emotion. One becomes attached to the characters. There are times where one might question whether Crispin is too modern; too good, too noble. Yet, it is part of the development one has seen in the character and is part of what draws one back to the series.
Spiteful Bones presents an effective twist and an exciting climax. Historical mystery devotees will be pleased.
SPITEFUL BONES (Hist Mys-Crispen Guest-London-1398) – G+
Westerson, Jeri – 14th in series
Severn House – Sept 2020 Spiteful Bones (Crispin Guest #14) 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.
On a more personal note, I've held this ARC in abeyance for a few months putting off reading it because I love Crispin Guest so much that I'm now delaying to the the last minute the pleasure of reading his latest story. How I'll cope with coming to terms with his last ever story I just don't know.
A Severn House ARC via NetGalley Spiteful Bones (Crispin Guest #14)