A Murder for Brother Hermitage


Book Description

It's more medieval mystery for people who laugh. Number 1 best selling, prize winning Howard of Warwick is back with volume 12 of the Chronicles of Brother Hermitage; "this time it's historical." Norman England is still full of real people; the incompetent, the hopeless and the just plain useless. But what’s this? At the monastery of his friend Abbot Abbo, a young, naive and bookish monk is killed in chapter 1? Surely not? It can’t be. The death of this particular monk sets off a chain of events that’s tangled to say the least. The news must be taken to Derby, home of Wat, erstwhile weaver of pornographic tapestry and Cwen, fierce and independent weaver in her own right. Then the death must be investigated, of course it must, and the guilty held to account. But the guilty seem to be queuing up in this case, and show not the least sign of shame, let alone guilt. In fact, they’re quite proud of what they've done. Brother Hermitage, the King’s Investigator, made a lot of enemies over the last 11 books. It was bound to go horribly wrong sooner or later. "Horrible" and "wrong" crop up quite often where Brother Hermitage is concerned. But, you need to read the book if you want to make any sense of all this; even then, there are no guarantees. Some people have said "hilarious", some have said "very, very funny," others have said "stupid" (the good and bad kind). Nearly 100,000 people have succumbed to the nonsense that is Howard of Warwick. 1,000 reviews, Amazon number 1s, 5* littering the floor of the scriptorium? There must be something in it. (May require prior reading of course HW101: medieval detection, the Hermitage years)







The Garderobe of Death


Book Description

Medieval mystery the Howard of Warwick way; funny! Now also a book. Available where all good books gather together. England 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 he's not very good at this sort of thing. Motivated by the point of a sword he and his companion 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. After this debacle he even has another go in The Tapestry of Death. Out now on Kindle What has been said of "The Heretics of Death" 'I laughed 'till I cried,' 5* 'medieval hysterical mystery – must read!' 5* 'buy this book. It is cheap and it will make you laugh ' 5* 'I don't think I'm the target audience,' 1* 'Hermitage you're an idiot' Prior Athan of De'ath's Dingle.




The Heretics of De'Ath


Book Description

England 1066. During an utterly pointless debate at the austere monastery of De'Ath's Dingle, a monk dies in mysterious circumstances. Standing accused is Brother Hermitage, who needs to work out who did it before he's executed. More medieval than detective, he finds a companion in Wat the weaver, producer of tapestry to make Beowulf blush.




The Murder of Willie Lincoln


Book Description

"The Murder of Willie Lincoln is a highly original weaving of fiction and historical fact -- all of the characters are real, and the events unfold as they actually did. This is history as it happened, except for one crucial detail that makes for an irresistible historical mystery"--Cover.




Freezing Order


Book Description

At once a financial caper, an international adventure, and a passionate plea for justice, Freezing Order is a stirring morality tale about how one man can take on one of the most dangerous and ruthless villains in the world.




Red Notice


Book Description

Freezing Order, the follow-up to Red Notice, is available now! “[Red Notice] does for investing in Russia and the former Soviet Union what Liar’s Poker did for our understanding of Salomon Brothers, Wall Street, and the mortgage-backed securities business in the 1980s. Browder’s business saga meshes well with the story of corruption and murder in Vladimir Putin’s Russia, making Red Notice an early candidate for any list of the year’s best books” (Fortune). “Part John Grisham-like thriller, part business and political memoir.” —The New York Times This is a story about an accidental activist. Bill Browder started out his adult life as the Wall Street maverick whose instincts led him to Russia just after the breakup of the Soviet Union, where he made his fortune. Along the way he exposed corruption, and when he did, he barely escaped with his life. His Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky wasn’t so lucky: he ended up in jail, where he was tortured to death. That changed Browder forever. He saw the murderous heart of the Putin regime and has spent the last half decade on a campaign to expose it. Because of that, he became Putin’s number one enemy, especially after Browder succeeded in having a law passed in the United States—The Magnitsky Act—that punishes a list of Russians implicated in the lawyer’s murder. Putin famously retaliated with a law that bans Americans from adopting Russian orphans. A financial caper, a crime thriller, and a political crusade, Red Notice is the story of one man taking on overpowering odds to change the world, and also the story of how, without intending to, he found meaning in his life.




The Magna Carta (or is It?)


Book Description




Murder & Mayhem in Nashville


Book Description

From post–Civil War political feuds to Depression-era mass murder—explore the criminally fascinating secret history of Music City, USA. Nashville is known for its bold, progressive flair, but few are aware of its malevolent past. Now, historian Brian Allison sheds light on some of Nashville’s darkest deeds in this compulsively readable chronicle of turn-of-the-century bad behavior. Included here are tales of infamous bar brawls, escaped fugitives, and deadly duels instigated (and won) by legendary hothead Andrew Jackson; a tour of the notorious red-light district of Smokey Row, where one of the largest congregations of prostitutes in the country was at the service of 1000s of beleaguered boys in gray; a killer temptress with a penchant for poison who strolled the city streets looking for victims; a grisly—and true—local legend known as the Headless Horror; the facts behind the macabre 1938 Marrowbone Creek cabin murders; and much more. Vividly capturing the outlandish mischief, shocking crimes, and political powder kegs of an era, Murder and Mayhem in Nashville lifts the veil on a great city’s sordid secrets.




The 1066 From Normandy


Book Description

Death and taxes... with extra death. Yet more medieval detective-sort-of-thing from the best selling author... Brother Hermitage, the King’s most medieval investigator, is about to discover the true meaning of the Norman Conquest; money. It’s all very well Saxons fighting William on the battlefield and trying to kill him, but evading his taxes is simply beyond the pale. Something must be done about it. And who better to do something about things than his own investigator? The first problem is that the King’s Investigator doesn’t understand what it is. But then not understanding things has never held him back in the past. If tax evasion is a bad thing - which William assures him it is - then the people who do it are positively revolting. Hermitage has dealt with deceit, dishonesty and deception in the past, but he’s never met people who have made it their life’s work. Needless to say, Wat and Cwen the weavers are dragged into this, quite literally, and Wat seems to know rather too much about dodging tax. And then, of course, the bodies start piling up. Death and taxes, eh? Who’d have thought… Brother Hermitage’s 16th adventure, and Howard of Warwick’s 21st attempt at synchronised scribbling simply reveals more of the same: 5* “Hurrahs for the ole goofy gang! Another terrifically funny adventure” 5* “Hilarious” 5* “More hilarity” "very good indeed, brilliant," BBC Coventry and Warwick