Crispin Guest Book #5
Medieval noir by Jeri Westerton
My rating: ★★★★★
Wow, amazing ! I really missed Crispin Guest in the last two months I dedicated to Christmas reads.
This is installment #5 in the series, but you can read it as a standalone as well ( even if I think each book it's more enjoyable if you read them all starting from the first one ) and Jeri Westerson, the author, did not disappoint me: her writing style is amazing, she manages to catapult me into the Middle Ages on the scenes described in the book.
Her wonderful descriptions are not only visual, but include all the senses: she manages to make me feel the smells, the humidity on the skin, the restorative heat of the fire, the sexual tension when there are scenes in which the nature of the man prevails Crispin, the tension in the air in moments of danger, the fear and euphoria of the characters, she manages to make me experience every action scene just as if I were on the set of a film and even, in this book, the the author managed to make me feel inside Crispin's body, as if every action, fact and sensation happened to me together with him.
The author manages to mix fictional characters together with real-life characters and against a historical background rich in details in the best way.
Before continuing, however, I must briefly talk about THE PLOT__ :
Crispin Guest is a former knight banished from the court of King Richard II as a traitor. Crispin is a courageous thirty-two-year-old and a man of honor, but he fell into a trap run by the man he admired most in the world.
That man, aware of this, asked the king for grace to save the knight from execution, but since then Crispin has lived in poverty, earning his living as "The Tracker", a kind of detective who finds missing objects, often precious relics and solves murder cases.
Over the years the Tracker, aided by his assistant Jack Tucker (former cutpurse), has earned the respect of people, both among the people and among old court friends. His exploits are often praised in London and England and in this new adventure not only will he have to solve a murder, find the spear of Longinus ( the one with which the Roman centurion struck Christ's side on the cross), help an old knight friend defending his honor, but he will also have the opportunity to feel like a knight once again and to fight valiantly.
This book, which begins immediately with energetic, well-detailed action scenes (and I often wonder if the author has taken fighting lessons, because every action is really well described), is linked through two characters (one fictional and one real historical and famous character ) that we have already met in book #1 and in book #4.
These are Philippa, the woman with whom Crispin fell in love and who he decided not to marry and Geoffrey Chaucer, knight of the Duke of Lancaster and great friend of Crispin, as well as diplomat and poet, now known as the father of English literature.
However, if you haven't read the previous books, don't worry, the whole backstory is explained in a concise but satisfying way, but if you started the series from the beginning, then like me you will be delighted with these links.
What really made me emotional in this story, however, was the part in which Crispin, after 10 years, finally, even if briefly, returns to being a knight. ( I don't mark it as spoiler because this statement will certainly fill you with curiosity... and it's not as you're already imagining).
The emotion is perceived by the reader through Crispin's heartbeat, which at first finds himself in a dream, a surreal scene, then gradually realizes what is happening.
WARNING SPOILER ___ He feels the fear of death within himself and in a few minutes he thinks back to the things he still has to accomplish and finish. But he also feels happiness in being able to die the way he feels he is truly himself.
Then little by little the prospect of death transforms into the belief of making it, the sound of the excited crowd, the announcement of the start of the joust, the clattering of the horses, reliving gestures and emotions of the past creates euphoria and adrenaline within him (or and the piece of sacred spear?)... ___ SPOILER END the last chapters were really exciting and kept me in suspense, it was wonderful!
If on the one hand I found it unfair that Crispin faced yet another dangerous situation to help someone WARNING SPOILER ___ who truly proved to be an undeserving coward, on the other hand I am happy that he was able to once again be part of the world that so much he loved and that Jack, his pupil, was able to see not only the fullness of his courage and honor (two things he always demonstrated) but also at the height of his fighting skills. I am happy that he was able to demonstrate his full value even to his old court friends (not that he needed it and he was actually incognito, but I was very happy about it as if Crispin was my best friend or even my love ). ___ SPOILER END
But the emotions of the book do not end here, the most emotional among you will also shed a few tears... after all, life includes not only victories, but also pains and although this is a historical fiction novel, everything is as it could be in the reality: pain and joy mix in a completely believable way and the characters are three-dimensional, so much so that now I will miss them until the next book.
__ REGARDING THE HISTORICAL PART ON THE RELIC __ perhaps in this book the presence of the power of the relic that everyone wants to take possession of is less felt, but in the epilogue the author explains many interesting things about the various spears considered the real one, which entered the side of Jesus on the cross and of each of them, J. Westerson briefly illustrates the history and the place where it is preserved.
Also very interesting is the theme of the health disorder from which soldiers and fighters of all eras suffer, but which in medieval times was ignorantly defined as cowardice.
Actually I hadn't considered this issue until I read the writer's epilogue, but then I realized that in fact the problem of Crispin's knight friend was precisely that.
Recommended book? YES, OF COURSE !! I love Crisping Guest and his stories and I thank Jeri Westerson for writing them!
Thank you for reading my review and please forgive any errors in my text because English is not my language :-)
------> Each book is readable as a standalone, but if you read them in order your enjoyment will be doubled !
If you want to know more about PREVIOUS BOOKS, you can read my reviews here :
BOOK #1 "Veil of Lies" :
BOOK #2 "Serpent in the Thorns" :
BOOK #3 "The Demon's Parchment" :
BOOK #4 "Troubled Bones" :
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