Jeri Westerson, Veil of Lies (St Martin's, 2008)
Jeri Westerson, Serpent in the Thorns (St Martin's, 2009)
A few months ago on an email list I'm a part of (yes, they still exist, even in this era of "social media"), someone tried to list out all the different sub-genres that are out there for science fiction. The list was enormous and list members kept on adding more and more tiny variations on the various categories already mentioned until it got to the point where the original questioner thanked everyone for their input and let the topic die. The writer of Ecclesiastes tells us that of the making of books there is no end. I think the same can be said about literary genres. Too often, they're marketing categories used to pull the unwary reader into purchasing a book.
Genre, though, seems to be important in SF/F marketing, so it is only to be expected that mystery publishing is quickly succumbing (if it hasn't already) to a proliferation of sub-genres. The latest addition is something called "medieval noir" of which there is only one practitioner to date (that I'm aware of -- if you know of others, please write us!), namely Jeri Westerson, who has given us two novels in an ongoing series set in late 13th-century London.
The protagonist of these novels is Crispin Guest, a former knight who was a member of John of Gaunt's household until he was discovered to be part of a conspiracy to put someone other than Richard II on the throne. It was only through John of Gaunt's intervention that Crispin did not suffer execution as a traitor to the throne. Instead, he was stripped of his very person: title, lands, and social position were all taken away, and he was left to eke out an existence in the streets of London -- a fate worse than death for Crispin. But he has made the best of it and has set himself up as a Tracker, someone who finds people's lost items. It does not take long, though, before he finds himself involved in trying to solve murders for his clients.
In his first adventure, Veil of Lies, Crispin is hired by London merchant Nicholas Walcote, who believes his wife is cheating on him. While this is a bit out of Crispin's usual job, the pay is good, so he agrees to play the private detective (even though that particular idea is still centuries away). Crispin soon discovers the wife's guilt but as he arrives at Walcote's house to tell the cuckolded husband, he finds his employer dead in a sealed room that can be locked only from the inside. Walcote's wife hires Crispin in turn to find the murderer, and Crispin soon finds that he is in deep waters as he uncovers a trade conspiracy that could bring down the crown.
The second mystery, Serpent in the Thorns, opens with a half-wit coming to Crispin because she has found a body in her room and believes that she is the murderer. The body belongs to a courier who was bringing the holy Crown of Thorns to the king of England as a goodwill gift from the king of France. Crispin takes on the job and soon finds himself the caretaker of the Crown of Thorns as he works to discover who killed the courier. However, things quickly get out of hand and the number of bodies piles up as Crispin finds himself a murder suspect (of the king of England, no less!). Crispin strives to find the real murderer while also hiding from the king's men who are seeking him out.
As far as the complexity of these stories as mysteries, they're fair but nothing extraordinary. I found myself able to figure them out rather quickly, but I don't think that the solving of the mystery is really the focus of the author. Rather, we must remember that first and foremost, Jeri Westerson seems to be focusing on the noir aspect of "medieval noir." These are more thrillers, then, than mysteries. (But I should state that these mysteries are not disappointing, just not overly complex and difficult to figure out.) It's the atmosphere that Ms. Westerson is attempting to draw that makes them enjoyable stories.
So, the vital question is, how do they work as noir? Surprisingly well, if you're willing to have noir that is not based in the 20th century. We have the dark, seamier side of life at the time -- only this time it's late 13th-century London; we have the detective who beds his clients, and other stereotypical acts of manliness; we have a narrator/protagonist who is fatalistic in his attitude toward life. We have all the markings of the noir/hardboiled detective story. The only thing missing, though, are the shots in the night from dark alleyways, but in the second book, Westerson gives us something almost as good with arrows from heaven, striking from nowhere.
At first I was highly doubtful that this could be pulled off. But after two novels, I'm willing to come back to more Crispin Guest adventures in order to see where it heads. Crispin is a complex character who is struggling to regain his status in life, but not at the cost of what he holds dear to himself: his honor. He is engaging and interesting to discover more about. My recommendation to Westerson is that she continue to develop the character and not give us twenty novels where Crispin's character stays stagnant. One of the most engaging things about the Peter Wimsey novels was how he grew and developed over the years: if Crispin Guest does the same (as he has so far), then we will have a great series of mysteries. Otherwise, "medieval noir" might just become a blip on the complex radar map of sub-genres.
