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When a corpse turns up at his favorite tavern, Crispin Guest—disgraced knight turned “Tracker”–begins an inquiry, but the dead man turns out to be a Templar knight, an order thought to be extinct for 75 years, charged with protecting a certain religious relic which is now missing. Before he can begin to investigate, Crispin is abducted by shadowy men who are said to be minions of the French anti-pope.8/21/14 – 8/28/14Genres: Historical Mystery, Medieval Mystery
Blurb:
Further complicating matters are two women: one from court with an enticing proposition, and another from Crispin’s past, dredging up long-forgotten emotions he would rather have left behind.And as if all that weren’t enough, a cunning young cutpurse by the name of Jack Tucker has insinuated himself into Crispin’s already difficult life. The deeper Crispin probes into the murder, the more it looks like the handiwork of an old friend turned adversary. With enemies from all sides, Crispin has his hands full in more than murder in this intriguing prequel to the acclaimed series.
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Excerpt:
“I have not deceived you as to my nature, Master Guest. I am all you see. Deceitful, hungry, pugnacious, greedy. Qualities found in most knights in most courts, wouldn’t you say? I am not like the precious Templars. Their deceit is couched in the odor of sanctity, wrapped in the mantle of piety, and sanctioned by well-wishers everywhere. The Templars want nothing more than to rule and dominate and they use goodhearted dupes such as you to accomplish their goals. But do not take my word for it. Discover for yourself the character of Gaston D’Arcy. Why don’t you ask Lady Stancliff?”
Crispin’s face remained neutral. The chair settled on all four legs again. “Lady Stancliff?”
“You know the lady in question. My operatives tell me that you know her…very well indeed.”
“I warn you. Do not delve into my privacy.”
“Privacy? For such a public lady? A lady whose indiscretions span the court? Ask her what she had to do with the pious Gaston D’Arcy. Ask her. Then ask her about Stephen St Albans. There are more paramours, but we do not have that much time.” He chuckled but there was little mirth behind it. “Perhaps the lady knows the grail’s whereabouts.”
Crispin’s strained fingers clutched his knees. Her vulnerability did seem a little too studied, a little too convenient. He suddenly felt the fool.
“Mon Dieu!” De Marcherne laughed. “I did not burst any bubbles, did I? You are not in love with her, are you?”
“I am under no delusions as concerns Lady Stancliff.”
“Good. Then I suggest you ask her about the grail. Or would you rather I ask her?”
A chill ran down Crispin’s spine. Wily she may be, but he did not relish the thought of Vivienne enduring de Marcherne’s kind of query.
“What say you, Crispin? Make a pact with me to find the grail? I will make it worth your while.”
“I am already being paid to find it.”
“But when you find it for them,” he said, leaning closer, “you must surrender it. Find it for me and there will be no reason to. Think Crispin. There are forces here far greater than we. If you covet the return of your knighthood, if you believe that without it you are only half a man, you will do this. The grail can recover everything for you.”
Crispin tried to shut it out. It was true, then, that the Devil knew your greatest weakness and could use it to tempt you.
He wondered how much he owed to the Templars. Wynchecombe did not care if the grail was recovered or not because he did not believe in its existence. Legend, myth. Who could truly say what the grail was or who it belonged to?
“It is not treason when one works for the greater good,” continued de Marcherne. “How foolish are the English. They do not perceive your value. Come to the French court and your knighthood and all that goes with it will be restored.”
“If I find the grail and give it to you?”
“Yes. Simple.”
Crispin rubbed his chest. “You could have asked before. Why didn’t you?”
De Marcherne sipped his wine. “When one is accustomed to certain methods it is hard to change. As I said, I do regret my earlier treatment of you.”
“I work for a fee of one shilling a day, plus expenses.”
“You work for sixpence a day. But I will pay you twelve.” He motioned to one of the men who handed him a pouch. “Here is a sennight’s worth in advance.”
Crispin looked at the pouch but did not take it. “What if I don’t find it? What if it falls to another?”
De Marcherne smiled, took Crispin’s hand, and placed the pouch within it. “Don’t disappoint me.”Buy Links:
Connect With The Author:
L.A. native Jeri Westerson has been a journalist, a theology teacher, and graphic artist, among other things. As a novelist, she combined the medieval with the hard-boiled and came up with her own brand of medieval mystery she calls Medieval Noir.
Her brooding protagonist, Crispin Guest, is a disgraced knight turned detective on the mean streets of fourteenth century London. Her sixth book, SHADOW OF THE ALCHEMIST, was named the Best of 2013 by Suspense Magazine. Her latest, CUP OF BLOOD, has already garnered critical acclaim. Jeri’s Crispin Guest books have been nominated for a variety of industry awards, from the Agatha to the Shamus.
She is president of the Southern California chapter of Mystery Writers of America and a member of several prestigious writing organizations. Jeri speaks all over the southland about medieval history, including as a guest lecturer at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana and Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, CA.
When not writing, Jeri dabbles in gourmet cooking, likes fine wines, cheap chocolate, and swoons over anything British. She herds two cats, a tortoise, a bevy of bees, and the occasional tarantula at her home in southern California. See more at JeriWesterson.com
Author Links:
Cover Me By Jeri Westerson
It’s something most authors have no control over. Yeah, we write the books, create the characters and plots, but we are not trusted to give input about what our covers should look like.
And perhaps, in some instances, that’s a good thing. Not everyone is visual. But what about covers? Do they sell books? According to the latest survey (and there are so many) of indie book buyers, by indie author Tara Sparling, the thing that attracts someone to buy an indie book is cover, excerpt, reviews. And while you can go to my website to see all three of those items, we’ll talk cover design in this post.
My first published novel was VEIL OF LIES seen here as a hardcover. I had no idea what St. Martin’s art department was going to come up with. Here was a new medieval mystery, a “Medieval Noir,” so it was sort of a different take from the average medieval mystery. Those covers ran the gambit from stained glass windows, to old drawings of knights, to tapestry-like paintings. Historical novels usually employed costumed models in lush backdrops. So it could have been anything, and since I am a visual person (I was a graphic artist and art director in my former life) I anxiously awaited what they would come up with. I knew for myself that book covers are the first thing that get my attention in a bookstore. So I was hoping for something eye-catching…in a good way.
The initial image my editor presented is the one that ended up on the hardcover. Basically, they ran out of time. He never really liked it but it was okay by me because it looked rather literary and it was, after all, my first freakin’ book cover! Though my first reaction was “Isn’t this a bit literal?” A key, a folded veil, drops of blood. Nice, classy, but did it really say “Medieval Noir?” I had in mind more of a cover with a single character on a shadowy background where you can see it’s a medieval city.
As luck would have it, when it was time for VEIL to go to paperback, the paperback division of Minotaur Books absolutely hated the hardcover art. In fact, they weren’t going to spend the money on the paperback if Minotaur did not change it and pronto.
Suddenly, I was being asked for ideas. Crispin Guest, my brooding ex-knight turned detective, is the driving force in the novels, a sort of medieval Sam Spade, and so I really wanted that single figure in a shadowy background on the cover.
I was completely enamored of those covers. Oh I know that there are folks out there who will say “That’s not how I pictured Crispin.” And to tell you the truth, it’s not exactly how I pictured him either. But it’s darned close.
But then, alas, after six books, St. Martin’s and I parted company. While my agent searched for a new publisher, I wanted another Crispin book out there. I didn’t want a year to go by without a Crispin book out there for my fans, so I dug out the original first book in the series that was never published. I dusted it off, gave it a good rewrite, and self-published it. That book was CUP OF BLOOD. But now I needed a cover. Those covers of the previous six books belonged to St. Martin’s, not me. And I certainly couldn’t afford to make any kind of deal with the photographer who did those covers, so we had no choice but to create our own…something to be reminiscent of the prior covers.
Having a graphic design background, I designed the cover. My husband is a commercial photographer, and so all we needed was a model. He works with another designer who has long hair and a lean frame, and he agreed to be my new Crispin for free. All I needed to do was get the costume, at no small expense, and we were on our way with a photo shoot.
Because I wasn’t sure how many books I might have to self-publish, we did a lot of different poses. And I knew I’d be doing a lot of Photoshopping of my model. For one, he is very youthful, with plump cheeks which we had to get rid of. Crispin is thirty year old in this book, a hard thirty, and he is also mostly in need of funds and food. Our model also had a beard and mustache which Crispin doesn’t have so those had to go. I narrowed his lips, shaved off the shape of his chin, gave him some worry lines, and darkened up the whole thing, plunking him in front of a stock photo of a medieval village, gave the whole thing texture, and made a little bit of a logo out of the title. I’m pretty happy with the results.
You can see the before and after here.
*************************************************************************Jeri gets to picture Crispin all time when she writes her “Medieval Noir” series. You can read Crispin’s blog and an excerpt of her latest, CUP OF BLOOD, on her website www.JeriWesterson.com.
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