London, 1394. A stranger leaves Crispin Guest an ancient leather-bound codex written in a language he cannot recognise and tells him that he will know what to do. A hidden rabbi identifies the book as a version of the Gospel of Judas, a text whose claims could be treated as an attack on Christian doctrine. Murder and intimidation follow as powerful men try to possess or destroy the manuscript, leaving Crispin and Jack to discover why the dangerous book was entrusted to them and whether preserving it is worth the lives placed at risk.
The mystery reflects the extraordinary authority of manuscripts in a world where books were copied by hand, literacy was concentrated and religious orthodoxy had legal consequences. It also returns to the precarious position of Jews in England after the expulsion of 1290, forcing knowledge to circulate through secrecy and personal trust. During Richard II’s reign, debates over clerical authority and doctrine were becoming increasingly charged; Westerson turns that atmosphere into a thriller about who controls texts, interpretation and memory.
