In 16th century England, Isabella Launder little realizes the twists and turns her life is about to take as she surrenders herself to a small nunnery in order to forget her unrequited love of the courtier Thomas Giffard. She must learn--along with her sisters in Christ--the true nature of faith and survival, withstanding passionate jealousies, intrigues, and the emerging threats to the Church itself as one by one the monasteries are dissolved. Inspired by the true lives of Isabella Launder and Thomas Giffard and set amid the onrushing storm of Henry VIII's break with Rome, obsession opposes faith in this tale of a wealthy knight and the last prioress of Blackladies convent.

In fourteenth century London, Crispin Guest is a disgraced knight convicted of treason and stripped of his land, title and his honor. He has become known as the “Tracker”—a man who can find anything, can solve any puzzle and, with the help of his apprentice, Jack Tucker, an orphaned street urchin with a thief ’s touch—will do so for a price. But this time, even Crispin is wary of taking on his most recent client. Jacob of Provencal is a Jewish physician at the King’s court, even though all Jews were expelled from England nearly a century before. Jacob wants Crispin to find stolen parchments that might be behind the recent, ongoing, gruesome murders of young boys, parchments that someone might have used to bring forth a demon which now stalks the streets and alleys of London. From Publishers Weekly Westerson's third 14th-century historical featuring disgraced knight Crispin Guest (after 2009's Serpent in the Thorns) is the best yet in the series, though the plotting and characterization remain a cut below that of, say, a master of the medieval subgenre like Susanna Gregory. Guest, who's developed a reputation as "the Tracker," pursues two cases: a Jewish doctor, Jacob of Provençal, retains him to recover some lost Hebrew manuscripts, and the sheriff of London asks for his help to trace a serial killer who's strangled and eviscerated four young boys. In the course of his inquiries, Guest encounters a hulking figure who may be the legendary golem, a creature molded from clay to protect the Jewish community. Those who may regard the serial killer story line as anachronistic will find a real-life model, Gilles de Rais, cited in the author's afterword.

"Westerson has mastered her subject and has used that knowledge to create erudite entertainment." --Richmond Times Dispatch on Veil of LiesDisgraced knight Crispin Guest gets himself into some serious trouble in London and as a result is forced to accept an assignment far out of town. The Archbishop of Canterbury has specifically requested Guest to investigate a threat against the bones of saint and martyr Thomas a Beckett, which are on display in the cathedral in Canterbury. The archbishop has received letters threatening the safety of the artifacts, and he wants Guest to protect them and uncover whoever is after them.When he arrives at Canterbury, Guest is accosted by an old acquaintance from court -- one Geoffrey Chaucer -- and is surrounded by a group in town on a pilgrimage. Trapped amongst the pilgrims (who were, quite possibly, the model for Chaucer's famous story cycle), looking for a murderer, a hidden heretic...

A medieval mystery featuring disgraced knight Crispin Guest London, 1388. When the mythical Stone of Destiny disappears from the throne of England during mass in Westminster Abbey, the populace takes it as a sign to side with King Richard II's rebellious barons. The last thing the king needs is for his authority to be put in question, especially after his army suffers a crushing defeat against a Scottish uprising. Desperate, Richard calls in Crispin Guest to find the missing stone. And to ensure that he will do the deed, the king imprisons Jack Tucker and orders Crispin to find the stone before Parliament convenes in three days' time - or Jack will hang for treason.

Crispin Guest is a disgraced knight, stripped of his rank and his honor - but left with his life - for plotting against Richard II.  Having lost his bethrothed, his friends, his patrons and his position in society.  With no trade to support him and no family willing to acknowledge him, Crispin has turned to the one thing he still has - his wits - to scrape a living together on the mean streets of London.  In 1383, Guest is called to the compound of a merchant - a reclusive mercer who suspects that his wife is being unfaithful and wants Guest to look into the matter.  Not wishing to sully himself in such disgraceful, dishonorable business but in dire need of money, Guest agrees and discovers that the wife is indeed up to something, presumably nothing good.  But when he comes to inform his client, he is found dead - murdered in a sealed room, locked from the inside.  Now Guest has come to the unwanted attention of the Lord Sheriff of London and most recent client was murdered while he was working for him.  And everything seems to turn on a  religious relic - a veil reported to have wiped the brow of Christ - that is now missing. From Publishers Weekly Crispin Guest, a former knight who was stripped of his rank after being implicated in a plot against Richard II, now makes his living as a tracker, the medieval equivalent of a PI, in Westerson's promising debut, set in 1384 London. Nicholas Walcote, a wealthy cloth merchant, hires Guest to investigate his younger and attractive wife, Philippa, whom he suspects of infidelity. Guest's cursory probe is derailed after his client is found stabbed to death in a locked room. Philippa retains Guest's services to find her husband's killer, who may have been motivated by Walcote's possessing a legendary relic reputed to force those in its proximity to tell the truth. While featuring a hard-boiled medieval sleuth instead of a monk or a nun may not be quite as groundbreaking as the author suggests in her afterword (e.g., Susanna Gregory's 14th-century Cambridge physician Matthew Bartholomew), this is nonetheless an entertaining read that makes the prospect of sequels welcome.