After an ill-considered action one night in London, disgraced knight
Crispin Guest heeds the summons of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who has
specifically requested Guest's presence. The archbishop has received
letters threatening violence against the bones of saint and martyr
Thomas à Beckett, the greatest treasure on display in the cathedral in
Canterbury. Guest, who has been living by his wits since being stripped
of his honor, his title, and his lands, has earned a reputation for
solving seemingly impossible puzzles and finding lost objects. Known to
many as "the Tracker," Guest is now charged with protecting the relics
of the saint and discovering whoever is out to destroy them. With his
young apprentice, Jack Tucker, in tow, Guest arrives in Canterbury and
is immediately accosted by an old acquaintance from court--one Geoffrey
Chaucer--surrounded by a group of pilgrims lately come from London.
Trapped among the travelers (who were, quite possibly, the model for
Chaucer's famous story cycle, The Canterbury Tales), and tripped up by a
series of murders in the cathedral, Crispin has to uncover a hidden
heretic and a killer before his friend Chaucer, carefully framed for the
murders, is hanged for someone else's crimes.