Veil of Lies (30 page)

Glossary

CHEMISE
shirt for both male and female, usually white. All-purpose, used also as a nightshirt.

COTE-HARDIE (COAT)
any variety of upper-body outerwear popular from the early middle ages to the Renaissance. For men, it was a coat reaching to the thighs or below the knee, with buttons all the way down the front and sometimes at the sleeves. Worn over a chemise. Sometimes the belt was worn at the hips and sometimes the belt moved up to the waist. This is what Crispin wears.

DEGRADED
when knighthood is taken from a man, usually because of treason or other crimes against the crown.

DISSEISIN
forcible dispossession of land and title/status.

HOUPPELANDE
fourteenth-century upper-body outerwear with fashionably long sleeves that touched the ground. As fashion changed, so did the collar, growing in height, the sleeves in length with pleats—often stuffed—front and back.

LESE-MAJESTÉ
literally, “injuring the king” the act of committing treason or other offense to the king.

SHERIFF
the word is derived from the
shire reeve
, a man appointed to settle disputes and keep the peace in a region made up of several villages and towns known as a shire. The duties of the sheriffs changed with the times. The sheriffs of London were appointed for one year and served their term with little compensation except that which they could obtain by benefit of their office, that is, what bribes they could collect from those brought to justice. They appointed the juries, after all, and decided what situations would go to trial. They also served as judges.

The Crispin Guest Novels by Jeri Westerson

Veil of Lies

Serpent in the Thorns

Acknowledgments

Books don’t just happen. And as much as I’d like to think it only takes one brilliant author to sit alone in a room with a keyboard and a monitor, it involves just a little bit more than that. It’s been a long, interesting road to get to this point. So many people to thank, especially after fourteen years.

First and foremost, my grateful thanks go out to my husband, Craig, to whom I have dedicated this book. Throughout fourteen years of rejections when I started out writing historical fiction until I buckled down to write historical
mystery,
he has been standing by my side encouraging me. “It will happen someday,” he’d say. “I’m sure of it.” He was right. And thanks also to my wonderful son, Graham, who happily liked to play by himself all those years ago because Mom was always locked in her office writing.

With historical mystery comes its own set of problems. There is a lot of traipsing back and forth to various libraries, so I am always grateful to the helpful staff of the Tomas Rivera Library at the University of California at Riverside, and also to Nancy Smith and her fine staff at the Sun City Library (“Who is that woman and why is she always here?”). And what I couldn’t glean from my local libraries, I garnered from some very helpful scholars, historians, and writers I met online at mediev-l.

Many thanks also go out to my best friend, Marie Meadows, who has been my own personal cheering section. We spent many hours discussing plot and working on Crispin’s coat of arms. Thanks also to Luci Zahray, who probably doesn’t know how much she encouraged me; to Kat Cormie for giving me a great turn of plot; Henk ’t Jong for translation help; Francesco Dall’Aglio at the Istituto Italiano per gli Studi Filosofici in Naples for the embarrassing Italian (sure glad we exchanged e-mails and didn’t have to say naughty words to each other over the phone!).

Where would I be without the judicious eyes of my critique groups? First, there was Rebecca Farnbach and Carol Thomas with their sharp red pencils. Later, my Vicious Circle, which consists of Ana Brazil, Bobbie Gosnell, and Laura James, had a crack at it. These indefatigable ladies know how to put me in my place (and that ain’t easy!). Their virtual pencils may not be red, but they are sharp enough to pin me down, slap me a little, and make it all work. And thanks also to the online group Guppies of Sisters in Crime, who don’t mind answering the same question over and over and are always there to lend a virtual pat on the back.

A big,
big
thanks to my agent, Steve Mancino, who, like a mastiff, would not give up and thrashed my manuscript within an inch of its life. And lastly, a very special thank-you to my superb editor at St. Martin’s Press, Keith Kahla, who liked my characters so much he gave them a second chance. Thank you all.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

VEIL OF LIES.
Copyright © 2008 by Jeri Westerson.
All rights reserved.
For information, address St. Martin’s Press,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

www.minotaurbooks.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Westerson, Jeri.

Veil of lies: a medieval noir / Jeri Westerson.—1st ed.

p. cm.

ISBN: 978-1-4299-4885-2

1. Knights and knighthood—England—Fiction. 2. Great Britain—History—14th century—Fiction. 3. London (England)—Fiction. 4. Murder—Investigation—Fiction. I. Title.

PS3623.E8478V45 2008

813'.6—dc22

2008025097