Crispin Guest Medieval Noir Books In Order

Publication Order of Crispin Guest Medieval Noir Books

The Crispin Guest Medieval Noir series is a famous book series of historical fiction, historical mystery, and medieval noir genres. It is written by the well known author from America named Jeri Westerson. The series is comprised of 9 books in total, which were released between the years 2008 and 2016. Each and every novel of this popular series features the lead character in the role of Crispin Guest, who is depicted as a disgraced knight from London at the time of the 14th century. The books show the mean street of London, where a man is required to go and struggle for his survival, in spite of not being mean himself. This man, Crispin Guest, is not afraid or tarnished. After being disgraced and stripped of his knighthood, he decides to make use of the one thing that he still possesses, and that is his wit. With the help of his wits Crispin Guest turns into a fine detective. For solving the mysteries around him on the London streets, he becomes a common and complete man, and at the same an unusual person. Because of his work and sincerity, Crispin becomes an honorable man. After taking the new role of a detective, Crispin begins to talk like a person of his age. He uses rude wit, a pettiness contempt, a disgust of sham, and a slight grotesque sense. Prior to becoming a detective, Crispin was stripped of his knight’s title, disgraced, declared as not a nobleman, forced to give up his wealth and live in poverty. Therefore, he gets left with almost nothing. Now, in order to earn his living and get things going on in his life, Crispin Guest starts looking for stolen items and handing them over to their owner, and thereby earn a small fee for his efforts. Occasionally, he even deals with tracking down criminals and helping the authorities to catch them. Crispin considers himself as a character with flaws. He seems very proud about accepting the squalor that he knows he is unable to escape. Also, Crispin is too romantic for overcoming the women’s wiles, who abuse him and use him for their benefit. Finally, Crispin Guest looks too steeped within the honor code and it looks quite clear that he cannot avoid peril.

The debut novel of the Crispin Guest Mystery series is entitled ‘Veil of Lies’. This book was released by the Minotaur Books in the year 2008. Author Jeri Westerson has set the story in London, England, United Kingdom, at the time of the year 1384. The important characters mentioned in the plot of the book include Crispin Guest, Lord Sheriff, Richard II, etc. At the start of the book’s story, it is shown that Crispin Guest gets disgraced from his position as a knight and is stripped of the honor and rank. His life is spared in spite of facing the charge of plotting and planning against King Richard II. Because of the disgrace and stripping off, Crispin Guest loses many things in his life, including his betrothed, his patrons, his friend, as well as his reputable position in the society. When he sees that there is no trade left to give him support and no family member showing the willingness to give him acknowledgement, he turns towards the only thing that is left with him in the form of his wits. He uses it to make a living out on the mean London streets. In 1383, Crispin gets a called by a merchant and is told to visit his compound. The merchant, who is a reclusive person, has the suspicion that his wife is not faithful to him. Therefore, he wants Crispin Guest to investigate about it and inform him about what his wife is up to.

Crispin does not like to sully himself in this kind of dishonorable and disgraceful business, but the urgent requirement of money and livelihood forces him to agree to do the investigation. After looking for a while into the matter, he discovers that the merchant’s wife is actually planning something, which doesn’t look good at all. When Crispin reaches out to his client to tell him about the involvement of his wife, he finds that the merchant is dead, murdered in a closed room that is locked from inside. This situation lands Crispin Guest in the unwanted attention of London’s Lord Sheriff. He faces the suspicion of Lord Sheriff about his involvement in the merchant’s murder. Soon, the matter takes a religious form when a veil from the Christ’s brow gets disappeared. Things do not look good at all as the murder and then the theft of the veil appears to look like bad luck, especially for Crispin Guest. He is required to work out the things and find out the one responsible for the killing of the merchant before time runs out for him.

Another excellent book written by author Westerson in this series is called ‘Blood Lance’. It was also published by the Minotaur publication in 2012. Author Westerson has described the plot as having taken place in London Bridge, London. The important characters of this novel consist of Crispin Guest, Geoffret Chaucer, Sir Thomas Saunfayl, etc. At the beginning of the story of the book, it is depicted that Crispin Guest returns home late in the night and discovers a dead body hanging from the London Bridge. He attempts to rescue the body, but fails. He notices that the man is an armorer who used to run a shop nearby the bridge. When this news spreads on the streets, people begin to suspect that he might have committed suicide. But, Crispin Guest, who has now become famous as The Tracker because of his excellent mystery solving skills, seems pretty much unconvinced that it is a case of suicide. Later, Crispin learns that the armorer had told one of his old friends named Thomas Saunfayl that he will be providing him something that will help him beat everyone else in the battlefield. This something seemed to have been acquired by the armorer with a small amount. Thomas Saunfayl, who was unable to find what the thing was, suspects that the armorer was talking about Longinius’ Spear. This spear had pierced Christ’s side on cross. It is the belief among the royal and common people that the person who will possess the spear will become invincible. The matter becomes even more complicated when another friend of Crispin, Geofrey Chaucer, arrives in London suddenly and asks Crispin to let him find the spear. Crispin sees that Geoffrey knows a lot about the missing spear. As many people begin to get their hands on the spear first, the life Thomas Saunfayl’s life lands in danger. Also, the matter makes England’s safety hand in balance. Crispin Guest teams up with his new apprentice named Jack Tucker and tries to navigate through the perilous waters in order to find the spear well within time and prevent a major incident from happening.