The First Chronicles of Brother Hermitage: A whole box set of medieval nonsense.

The Chronicles of Brother Hermitage #1-3

by Howard of Warwick

FOR PEOPLE WHO LAUGH; A Box set of ebooks - is that even possible? From the man who created the genre no one asked for comes the first sorry trilogy in one massive and unwieldy volume. What feels like years ago, Brother Hermitage, the most inept medieval detective in history appeared on the bookshelves. Approaching 100,000 sales later, Howard of Warwick has finally got around to putting the first Chronicles of Brother Hermitage in the right order. Over 1,000 reviewers have said things about the series, many of them repeatable. 5* abound with words like "hilarious" , "a laugh riot" and "very, very funny." Compared to Monty Python, Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams and Winnie the Pooh! this is medieval crime like no other. Full of real people, doing real things and getting quite a lot of them wrong. “His writing is crisp, riotously funny, and he weaves a masterful little mystery that will leave you crying for more!” “Like Brother Cadfael visits Discworld.” “I would recommend this to anyone who loves a good story! It is so hard to wait until the new books come out!” Volume I The Heretics of Death England 1066: At the monastery of De'Ath's Dingle, during a completely pointless theological debate, there is a mysterious death. Routine business for the average investigative medieval monk. Unfortunately this isn’t a tale of average monks. Anyone who would put the idiot Brother Simon in charge of a murder investigation is either one chant short of a plainsong, or is up to something. When Brother Hermitage, innocent in every way, including bystanding, is lined up for execution, he begins to wonder if something might be going on. Perhaps his new companion Wat, weaver of pornographic tapestry, can figure out what it is. Before it's too late. If you are a lover of the historical detective genre, if you have a deep respect for the worlds created, don’t read this book. It’ll only upset you. Volume II The Garderobe of Death Now it's 1067: Henri de Turold, King William's favourite hunting companion has been murdered. How anyone actually did it, given the remarkably personal nature of the fatal wound, is a bit of a mystery. Lord Robert Grosmal, of disordered mind, disordered castle and Henri's host at the time, knows that King William gets very tetchy when his friends are murdered. He sends to the nearby monastery of De'Ath's Dingle for a monk to investigate. Medieval monks are usually good at this sort of thing. Brother Hermitage is a medieval monk but we already know he's not very good at this sort of thing. Motivated by the point of a sword he and Wat the weaver set off to solve the crime. Oh, by the way King William is arriving that night so they better get a move on. Brother Hermitage's second criminal investigation reveals many things. Improvement is not among them. If you are looking for a poignant evocation of the medieval world, an insightful exploration of the characters of the time, buy a different book. Ellis Peters is quite good. Volume III The Tapestry of Death Still 1067! Briston the weaver has been murdered – in a very special way – and it is up to his old friend Wat to avenge his death. Brother Hermitage will naturally support his companion in the quest, but the young monk worries as the number of suspects keeps rising. He's never been good with crowds.

815 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 5, 2018

About the author

Howard of Warwick is but a humble chronicler with the blind luck to stumble upon manuscripts which describe the goings-on of Brother Hermitage and his companion Wat the weaver.

His work has been heard, seen and read, most of it accompanied by laughter and some of it by money. His peers have even seen fit to recognize his unworthy efforts with a prize for making up stories.

There are now eighteen - make that twenty - novels of Brother Hermitage, the most medieval of detectives, loose on the world and they have found considerable success with the buying public.

The most recent outpouring from the scriptorium is The King's Investigator Part II.

Tales of Hermitage continue to flow forth with few checks for accuracy. There are even short stories available for free.

There is a dedicated web page, HowardofWarwick.com.

Messages can be left care of Howard@howardofwarwick.com and Howardofwarwick can be followed on Twitter


There is even tweeting @HowardofWarwick

Reviews

[D J Rout · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the humour is good, and equal to P G Wodehouse rTerry Pratchett, The Light Fantastic. But these are long novels, and require more attention than I was able to give them to get the full effect. I shall re-read them, and hus see whether the humour gets stale over the course of three books.

Then I will buy some more.

[Liz Draper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mediaeval mystery plays with hysterical history.

If Brother Cadfael were written by Jasper Fforde, this might be the result. Humour as subtle as a Norman invasion and delicate as the dandelion clock that is the brain of Hermitage...