The Case of The Cantankerous Carcass

The Case of The Cantankerous Carcass
Author: Howard of Warwick
Publisher: The Funny Book Company
Total Pages: 270
Release: 2017-08-24
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1913383334

How is a medieval monk supposed to investigate a death if the corpse keeps complaining all the time? Once more Brother Hermitage toils to avoid his duties as King's Investigator, and fails miserably. But this time it's personal. When his beloved old Abbot arrives at Wat the Weaver's workshop asking for his aid, Hermitage cannot refuse. He only has one beloved old Abbot, after all. But this one comes with a web made by specially tangled spiders. There are Normans involved of course, so far so normal. Add a monastery that no monk of sense would go anywhere near and a village of pagans whose answer to every problem is to set light to it and Brother Hermitage is out of his depth almost immediately. Wat and Cwen the weavers bring some common sense to the situation, but there isn't much of that to begin with. It's medieval crime with all of the normal human failings - and a few new ones as well. People laugh out loud at Howard of Warwick. 5* "I laughed out loud." "Hilarious and very funny." "This series just gets better and better."

The Case of The Curious Corpse

The Case of The Curious Corpse
Author: Howard of Warwick
Publisher: The Funny Book Company
Total Pages: 288
Release: 2017-05-24
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1913383326

More medieval crime comedy; the genre that hides in the bushes and makes strange noises. Brother Hermitage is compelled to yet another investigation by the sight of a most curious corpse. Helpful compulsion also comes in the shape of a dozen well-armed Norman soldiers and the King’s man Le Pedvin, who will probably stab him if he doesn’t get on with it. Clearly this a Very Important Victim. Suspicions are raised by a host of fascinating characters, including Hereward the Wake, all of whom claim to have loved the victim dearly, but who all benefit from the death in one way or another. It’s also a bit odd that King William insists that he is not to blame, despite boasting about being the killer of an awful lot of other people. On top of all that there is even a rival for the role of Investigator. As Hermitage doesn’t want to be an investigator that’s good, isn’t it? Ploughing in with Wat and Cwen at his back, side and sometimes in front, Brother Hermitage relies on his well established methodology (hoping something occurs to him at the last minute). With all that's going on around this particular death, that might not be enough... The mysteries of Brother Hermitage have been variously described as “hilarious”, “laugh out loud funny”, “side-splitting”, and “stupid” - which is a bit of mystery in its own right. Go on, give it a try…

The Case of The Clerical Cadaver

The Case of The Clerical Cadaver
Author: Howard of Warwick
Publisher: The Funny Book Company
Total Pages: 268
Release: 2016-10-27
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0992939399

It’s new, it's medieval and it’s all very silly…. A hidden monastery in the depths of England’s depths? A secret that could rock the church to its core? A trail of clues that can only be interpreted by an expert? This all sounds rather familiar…. Except the expert is Brother Hermitage, so I wouldn’t get your hopes up. Called once more by King William - who doesn’t even know what he’s calling for - Hermitage, Cwen and Wat the weaver set off to deal with the greatest mystery of all. A mystery that has been protected and guarded for years by a secret brotherhood sworn by awful oaths. A mystery only known to a priest who now happens to be dead. A mystery hidden in a monastery that isn’t even supposed to exist. A mystery of such value that the unscrupulous and greedy are also after it, and these particular unscrupulous and greedy know Brother Hermitage very well indeed. Will all be revealed in a satisfactory manner? Will the convoluted trail lead to a revelation of staggering significance? Hardly. This is a Chronicle of Brother Hermitage, after all…. CAUTION: Not for the historically humourless. Howard of Warwick has previous form... “Absolutely hilarious” 5* “I laughed, I had tears running down my face” 5* “Stupid” 1* Need I say more... you have been warned.

The Investigator's Kingdom

The Investigator's Kingdom
Author: Howard of Warwick
Publisher: The Funny Book Company
Total Pages: 247
Release: 2022-08-24
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1913383466

The world’s best-selling medieval crime comedies - and the most persistent. Howard of Warwick produces yet more nonsense mystery from days gone by. Just not gone by quite far enough. The Normans are coming, the Normans are coming. And they’re looking for Brother Hermitage. This cannot go well. It’s never gone well in the past so why should this time be any different? King William’s own messenger has come all the way from London looking for Brother Hermitage, the investigator. It can only mean one thing; a really important murder. Running away or hiding are obviously options, but the king’s messengers don't take “not available” for an answer. Hermitage hears the message and asks for it to be repeated, but still doesn't understand. He is easily confused but seldom so quickly. At least he has company. Wat the Weaver and Cwen are just as lost this time. Bart, the would-be investigator’s apprentice, is the only one who sees this very strange situation as an opportunity. And that’s a worry in its own right. Forced to travel to the far north, some fifteen miles away, Hermitage and the others make some alarming discoveries that go so far back in history, even Hermitage didn't see them coming. Still, meeting new people and hearing about their ways broadens the mind. Or threatens the life, one or the other. As usual, death is always close at hand, and it keeps looking at Brother Hermitage in a funny way. Then one character turns out to have a secret no one would have guessed. Not even if the threat of death made you guess really hard. “Very good indeed, brilliant” BBC 5* How on earth do you keep writing hilarious medieval murder mysteries? Ask Howard of Warwick’ 5* Always a Delight 5* Marvellous, laughed all the way through 5* This sorry world is in dire need of Brother Hermitage.

The Investigator's Wedding

The Investigator's Wedding
Author: Howard of Warwick
Publisher: The Funny Book Company
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2022-05-24
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1913383423

Howard of Warwick Goes Again. From the No 1 best selling author of innumerable medieval murders comes… a wedding. Unfortunately, some weddings can also be murder. Wat and Cwen, both weavers of tapestry for the very strong of heart are to marry. Brother Hermitage, the King’s Investigator will be chief witness and so warnings are issued; there is to be no suspicious death ruining the big day. But no one told the Normans. Lord Walter d’Aincourt has been given Derby by King William and he is going to take it, wedding or not. In fact, he’ll help himself to anything else that takes his eye - or send some large Normans on horses to take it for him. If the wedding doesn’t go quite as planned, things aren’t much better in the Norman camp. One soldier ends up with a tent pole where there shouldn’t be one, and it’s business as usual for Brother Hermitage. He should be used to being accused of murder by now. However, there’s enough conflict between the Normans themselves for several decent suspects. All this situation needs is a reasoned approach, careful analysis, a well-constructed argument and some sensible discussion. Or a great big fight. And that’s how wedding receptions were invented. “very good indeed, brilliant” BBC 5* A funny happy series of books that cheer you up. 5* Outright laughter 5* Just as good as every other in the series 5* Laughed till my sides ached

The 1066 From Normandy

The 1066 From Normandy
Author: Howard of Warwick
Publisher: The Funny Book Company
Total Pages: 221
Release: 2019-09-24
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1913383008

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

The Hermes Parchment

The Hermes Parchment
Author: Howard of Warwick
Publisher: The Funny Book Company
Total Pages: 278
Release: 2019-06-24
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1913383458

Where goes the King’s Investigator, there goes death; by murder, usually. The author of the Best Selling The Heretics of De'Ath and other tales too numerous to be polite, does not know when to stop. Despite his protestations that disaster is inevitable, Brother Hermitage travels to Lincoln to sort out a library. It’s the task of his dreams, even if he’s reasonably confident that someone will get murdered in the process. And there are several candidates. One of those troublesome Norman soldiers in the tavern? The king’s tenant-in-chief, Lord Colesvain, who has just forced the whole town to build his house for him? Colesvain’s objectionable son, Picot, who has a rather unhealthy interest in “illustrated” literature? But a library should be safe enough; apart from the librarian obsessed with books on sorcery and magic, obviously. Delving in the bottom of a box of books delivered from a long-lost monastery, Hermitage discovers the great Hermes Parchment and the whole world goes mad. Hermitage, Wat and Cwen become embroiled in events that were pretty embroiled to begin with.There are wise men of the woods who turn out to be no such thing, and suggestions of an evil secret hidden in the parchment’s pages just waiting to be released. And a dead body turns up. Just as Hermitage said it would. Told you so. It’s yet another outing for the world’s most medieval detective. "very good indeed, brilliant," BBC Coventry and Warwick 5* Hilarious 5* Like Pratchett does 1066 5* Laugh out loud with a good mystery. 1* Stupid

The Chester Chasuble

The Chester Chasuble
Author: Howard of Warwick
Publisher: The Funny Book Company
Total Pages: 277
Release: 2019-04-24
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 191338344X

History, hilarity and some horrible goings on. Howard of Warwick, the No 1 Best Selling author who brought you The Bayeux Embroidery, has fabricated yet another outing for the world's most medieval detective. At the request of some rather peculiar monks, Brother Hermitage and his companions, Wat and Cwen the weavers, travel to Chester to try and work out who has suffocated a priest with his own chasuble. They've even been recommended for this job by some very important people, but of course it starts to go wrong even before they arrive. Chester appears to be full of some very strange people and some even stranger religious institutions, all of whom detest one another with fervour. There are Saxon Nobles who have run away from the Normans and townsfolk for whom corruption is what they do best. Brother Hermitage must find out if the man who got killed is all he seems to be. Then there's a number of reasons why he could have been killed. And the list of who could have done it is a bit too long, even for Hermitage, who likes a list. Why does Brother Merle seem so keen on dead people? Who is the mysterious monk in the tower? How many Saxons does it take to change a kingdom? Be warned, Howard of Warwick has history: "very good indeed, brilliant," BBC Coventry and Warwick "5* Hilarious" "5* Laugh out loud" "5* Like Pratchett does 1066

The King's Investigator

The King's Investigator
Author: Howard of Warwick
Publisher: The Funny Book Company
Total Pages: 285
Release: 2020-06-24
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1913383091

Death in the Tower of London? This could give the place a bad reputation. In King William’s new London fortress (so new it doesn’t have a tower yet), a dead body lies right outside his chamber door. This could be murder as the victim is the widely hated Malf; so widely hated, virtually everyone is suspect. Brother Hermitage, the King’s Investigator must be summoned; the King’s investigator who really doesn’t want to do the job at all anymore. Fortunately, someone else seems very keen to take over: If you thought Brother Hermitage didn’t know what he was doing, Brother Peter is going to be a revelation. But murder seems to be a routine feature of court intrigue: Could it be a result of the dispute between the ghastly Le Pedvin, William’s favourite killer, and Ranulph de Sauveloy, his favourite administrator? Could it be Malf’s own family, who really can’t wait for him to die until they inherit? Could it be the Saxon rebels who are hiding in a very peculiar place close at hand? Brother Hermitage, Wat the Weaver and Cwen have got to find out and as usual, it all goes wrong almost immediately. Find the killer or face the same fate themselves is a familiar old refrain. But perhaps this time, Hermitage sees a way out. Could he really hand his hated job on to someone else; someone who really wants to do it? Populated by old familiar faces from most of Hermitage’s nightmares, The King’s Investigator could be the very end…. ... Although now we learn there's a Part II - how did that happen? - Look for the imaginatively titled, The King's Investigator Part II Howard of Warwick’s mission to bring medieval crime comedy to people who didn’t know they wanted it, takes its nineteenth step. Numerous No 1 Best Sellers, over 100,000 copies out there somewhere and containing more nonsense than a monk’s margin, it looks like it’s here to stay - or is it? Previous volumes have garnered praise: 5* Another brilliant read 5* Another fun filled adventure 5* Ha, ha, ha! Aha! Brother Hermitage does it again. 5* Masterpiece from Howard 1* Silly. "very good indeed, brilliant," BBC Coventry and Warwick