~Post by MysteryPeople Crime Fiction Coordinator Scott M.
At my old bookstore, I remember one of my customers asking if there was a hard boiled version of a medieval mystery. “Maybe the main character could be some bitter knight back from the crusades.”
At the time, I didn’t have much to offer him, but now Jeri Westerson has answered his prayers and then some by creating her character, Crispin Guest, and the entire genre of medieval noir.
It’s amazing nobody married noir with the medieval period before. Taking a cue from Umberto Eco’s Name Of The Rose, Westerson created something a bit tougher than other mysteries that use the period, such as the Brother Cadfael series. She brought in elements of hard boiled private eye fiction, making her hero literaly a “tarnished knight.” Out of prison, wrongly accused of treason, and stripped of his title, Guest scrounges out work on the mean streets of fourteenth century London as a “tracker”. Like Marlowe and Mike Hammer, his work gets him involved with duplicitous women, stolen heirlooms, hired thugs, and even a version of the Italian mob.
Jeri’s old London is filled with the cold and dampness of the alleys and the welcome warmth of a tavern fireplace. She doesn’t show off her research, instead keeping it with the character so that the whole story breathes. She focuses more on genre than period.
Crispin Guest is an original character. He carries the anti-social weariness of most fictional PIs, but the weariness holds a complexity. His former position has created a habit of looking down on the underclass which he now finds himself a part of. That said, recent events have made him skeptical (and a bit snarky) at the ruling class who hire him. Most of his socializing is done at a nearby tavern, forming uneasy friendships with the workers as well as his apprentice, Jack Tucker.
Jeri will be here on the Sunday October 30th at 7PM to sign her latest Crispin Guest book, Troubled Bones. This time Guest has to go to Canterbury, teaming up with Chaucer to protect Beckett’s bones. We’ll be turning our third floor into a fourteenth century tavern with beer and wine, and Jeri will be showing off her weapon collection. It will be a great way to learn more about Jeri, Crispin, and medieval noir. We’ll also be celebrating MysteryPeople’s one year anniversary at this event, with cake and fond memories of a great year bringing the world of Crime Fiction here to Austin. So come for the weaponry, stay for the cake, and be sure to check out all of the great MysteryPeople events happening this fall.
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