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Blood Lance (2012)

by Jeri Westerson(Favorite Author)

4.16 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

1250000181 (ISBN13: 9781250000187)

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

Minotaur Books

series

Crispin Guest Medieval Noir

review 1: This is number five, I think, in the series but the first one for me. There is enough background information to figure out the main character's back story but the story works on its own. The 14th-century setting is unusual and well realized although I would have liked a bit more detail on the sights, sounds, and smells of London. The main character, Crispin Guest, a disgraced former knight now working as, essentially, a private detective, is naive, hot-headed, and depressed, but also believable. Although the idea of a private detective is anachronistic, the author makes a plausible case that people would have been willing to pay someone to help them see justice done.
review 2: This was my first book in this series, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. It starts Tracke... morer Crispin Guest in a precious position and keeps him on the edge of the cliff the whole way. The historical context was quite interesting and the backstabbing politics of the court were a significant factor in the telling even if irrelevant to some degree to the solution. Making King Richard and Geoffrey Chaucer into real people with their many flaws speaks to the skill of this author. The Spear is a great maguffin and will obviously be brought around again in subsequent books. I've done some reading on the subject, and though there are many lances, it is like the holy grail itself. More of a concept in men's minds and hearts than a physical object. I'll be looking forward to the further adventures of Guest and his apprentice. less

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