Serpent in the Thorns, by Jeri Westerson - A Crispin Guest Medieval Noir

Serpent in the Thorns

Jeri Westerson

A Crispin Guest Medieval Noir

Good ol' down on his luck Crispin Guest, the Tracker, is embroiled in another murder mystery involving a sacred relic, this time the Crown of Thorns.  This time around he gets to work out some of his bitterness over the disgrace of being branded a traitor but spared his co-conspirators' death.  Thsi doesn't come easy, as the serpents, as is their wont,  is concealed and more of a threat to himself than he realizes.

A young woman has come to him to report a murder.  Her developmental disability makes her plea confused and the details few, but there is a dead man in her and her scullion sister's room.  Crispin, knowing he is unlikely to be paid, nevertheless goes with her to investigate, and not only finds the body of a French courier with an arrow protruding from it, but also a sack containing  the fabled Crown of Thorns.  He knows the King of France planned to loan the relic to King Richard II of England, so now he has to decide how to find the killer and also a way to use his possession to regain the favor of the king whom he conspired to dethrone seven years prior.

Who should turn up at a mandatory archery practice but Miles Alleyn, the very man who roped Crispin and his comrades into the conspiracy to put John of Gaunt, the Duke of Lancaster on the throne.  He immediately suspects Miles of being involved in the murder but knows the man must have had help.    When someone starts shooting at him, the older scullion sister, and the king, he knows his time to solve this mystery is short.  Revelations about that vexing old plot throw Crispin into a maelstrom of revelation.

The novel contains the same wonderful noir conventions as Westerson's other Crispin Guest novels, down to a Ratso Rizzo character called Lenny.  He is distracted by the dames, threatened by the corrupt cop, finds suspect among the rich and famous, and takes lots of hard knocks for himself.    His friends, in particular his servant Jack, support him, but they also come into the line of fire.  All in all this mixing of genres works and works exquisitely.

As in the other books, part of the story is Crispin's skepticism about the relics, their authenticity, their reputed powers, and when for fun Crispin puts the crown on his head, he experiences the elation and confidence that is this particular relic's gift.  I should have liked more done with that, since it seems one king lending such a powerful item to another must have background or consequences, but Westerson explains this away as the effect only working for the pure of heart.  Crispin aned Jack, pure of heart?  I would say well-meaning and idealistic at most.

There were a couple other points, particularly with Crispin's invasion of the royal feast, when I felt that the author lost her way, resulting in some confusion and logical improbabilities, but one thing with Westerson, you know she will keep you guessing and rooted to the page. She tells a helluva ripping yarn, and, what's more, offers some masterful sequences, most notably in this novel Crispin's final encounter with the king.


A "medieval noir" is a clever idea, and Westerson was just the person to do it.  You will enjoy everything about it.

I bought the Kindle version of this novel and read it gleefully with my Kindle 3.