The Deepest Grave

by Jeri Westerson

Overview

Crispin Guest must tackle a number of strange occurrences involving St Modwen’s Church and a missing relic in this latest medieval noir mystery.



London, 1392. Strange mischief is afoot at St Modwen’s Church. Are corpses stalking the graveyard at night, disturbing graves, and dragging coffins? When a fearful Father Bulthius begs Crispin Guest for his help, he agrees to investigate with his apprentice, Jack Tucker, intrigued by the horrific tales.
Meanwhile, an urgent summons arrives from Crispin’s former love, Philippa Walcote. Her seven-year-old son, Christopher, has been accused of murder and of attempting to steal a family relic – the missing relic of St Modwen.



Who is behind the gruesome occurrences in the graveyard? Is Christopher guilty of murder? Crispin faces a desperate race against time to solve the strange goings-on at St Modwen’s and prove a child’s innocence.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780727829634
Publisher:	Severn House
Publication date:	04/30/2019
Series:	Crispin Guest Medieval Noir Series , #10
Edition description:	Large Print
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	5.55(w) x 8.74(h) x (d)

About the Author

Jeri Westerson was born and raised in Los Angeles. As well as nine previous Crispin Guest medieval mysteries, she is the author of a paranormal urban fantasy series and several historical novels. Her books have been nominated for the Shamus, the Macavity and the Agatha awards.

Editorial Reviews

06/18/2018
At the start of Westerson’s so-so 11th whodunit featuring investigator Crispin Guest (after 2017’s Season of Blood), set in 1392 London, Guest agrees to help Fr. Bulthius Braydon with a strange case. Braydon claims to have witnessed corpses walking one night in the cemetery adjacent to his church, St. Modwen’s. The priest’s fears of supernatural evil only increased when, on the following day, he found opened coffins whose occupants had blood on their mouths. Meanwhile, Guest takes on a mystery with a personal angle after he hears from Philippa Walcote, “who had broken his heart by marrying another.” Philippa’s seven-year-old son, Christopher, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Guest, was found next to the corpse of their neighbor and is suspected of stabbing him to death after the victim supposedly caught the boy trying to steal a relic. The clichéd second case lessens the impact of the first, more unusual one. Fans of 14th-century mysteries set in England will be better served by Susannah Gregory’s Matthew Bartholomew series. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

"the story is well plotted and comes with a deeply satisfying resolution. Another winner"

Booklist

"the story is well-plotted and comes with a deeply satisfying resolution. Another winner"

Booklist

2018-05-28
A disgraced knight with an unwanted affinity for reliquaries is involved in yet another puzzle involving one.Crispin Guest, the Tracker, lost his status and almost his head when he followed his conscience in his choice for king. Now he tries to maintain his knightly skills while earning a living as a solver of puzzles (Season of Blood, 2017, etc.). He lives in London in a former shop with his apprentice, Jack Tucker, and Jack's very pregnant wife, Isabel. Crispin is approached by Father Bulthius of St. Modwen's Church, who claims that corpses from his graveyard climb out and walk by night and begs Crispin to come and see for himself. Although they find signs of disturbances and corpses with blood on their mouths, Crispin, ever the skeptic, seeks another answer for the strange goings-on. More important to him is a summons from Philippa Walcote, the woman he loved, who married another man. Philippa and her husband, Clarence, beg Crispin to save Christopher, their 7-year-old son, from a pending murder charge. Accused of stabbing their neighbor John Horne and trying to steal a relic, the boy says only that it was his fault. And no wonder, for he was in the room where Horne died, and his knife was the weapon. Crispin is shocked to discover that Christopher looks just like he did as a child and is obviously his own son. Fortunately, one of the two sheriffs admires his skills and gives him free rein to investigate. The missing relic, a bone stored in a red painted cow statue, attributed to St. Modwen, turns up at Crispin's home, and, although he returns it to Horne's not noticeably grieving widow, it just keeps reappearing. Crispin works hard with Jack to solve the churchyard puzzle, but even harder to save his son from death.A bit of history and folklore and a touch of romance combine to challenge the faithful hero in a case closest to his heart.

Kirkus Reviews