The Hospitaller Codex: A Bradley Davison Mystery

by Howard Weiner

A doctoral candidate working in the British Library discovers a centuries-old volume containing the secrets of the Knights Hospitallers, one of the military orders of warrior monks who participated in the Crusades and established a hospital in Jerusalem for the healing of injured pilgrims and crusaders. Embedded in that codex is a piece of parchment-a written confession-that has the potential to turn the world of Christianity on its end. Following the discovery, a series of murders-including that of the graduate student, begin to take place in New York City-all mysteriously related to the Knights Hospitallers. Deputy Chief Mag Goldman of the NYPD calls upon his friend, Professor Bradley Davison, of Queens College to assist him in deciphering clues and evidence found at the crime scene. Once again, Brad Davison is drawn into an investigation that baffles the police in their attempt to track down the serial killer and the secrets of the Hospitaller Codex.

306 pages, Hardcover

Published June 27, 2023

About the author

Howard Weiner was born in Washington, DC, in the distant past when Congress returned home during the summers, new best friends moved in every four years, and old ones never stayed. He attended local public schools and graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a BS in computer science and a spouse.

For the next forty years, he pursued an extensive graduate education, served as a member of the professoriate, an entrepreneur, and leadership positions in information technology in the private and public sectors. He lived during his working years in the Washington DC suburbs and exurbs, Richmond, Virginia, in three locations on Long Island, New York, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and finally, the upper west side of New York City.

He retired in 2012, and moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, where he realized it gets very hot in the summer. So, in 2015, he and his bride purchased a second home in a small Utah city where the summers and neighbors are easy going.

Weiner has always enjoyed writing, although as is typical of far too many technologists, he made it appear English was his second language. His bride, an accomplished compositionist in her own right, continues her patient efforts to make English his first language.

Today, he and his bride spend their time traveling north-south on I-15 as they shuttle between Las Vegas and Cedar City. They live with the fourth in a series of smart—but bad—dogs, the latest, an Australian Shepherd named Chiclet Bleu.