2016; 311 pages. Book 6 (out of 26) in the “Chronicles of Brother Hermitage” series. New Author? : Yes. Genre : Historical Satire; Murder Mystery; Humorous Crime;
British Humor. Overall Rating : 9*/10.
Gilder is dead, and the entire city of
Shrewsbury is in an uproar. Somebody
bashed the back of his head in, and that’s usually a fatal thing,
Every Shrewsburian knew
Gilder. He was their richest citizen,
lived in a big house, and had a number of steady incomes. He also had a knack for talking any bands of
roving marauders who arrived at the city gates to take their marauding
elsewhere.
Therefore when Brother
Hermitage, Wat, and Cwen stop by on their way home from an adventure in nearby
Wales, it isn’t surprising that all of Shrewsbury is busy sharing their
memories of Gilder. What is surprising is
that every man, woman, and child is celebrating his death. The city is awash in drunken revelry and nobody
sees any reason for anyone to try to find out who killed Gilder.
Which puts Brother Hermitage,
who is officially “The King’s Investigator”, in a rather ticklish spot.
What’s To Like...
Hermitage, Wat and
Some Nuns is Book 6 of the 26-volume Chronicles
of Brother Hermitage series, and my introduction to it. Book 26 came out this past August, so I’m
pretty sure this is not a completed series.
I’m obviously not reading the series in order, and I don’t think I’m
missing much by not doing so.
The story is set England in 1068
CE, or as the opening chapter indicates, 67 BC (“Before
Cadfael”). If you’re familiar
with Ellis Peters’ fantastic Brother Cadfael series, but always wondered what
it would be like if it were to stray into the Crime-Humor genre, you’re in for a
treat. One reviewer has described Brother Hermitage as a cross between Brother Cadfael and Inspector Clouseau, and I
think that’s apt.
His two traveling companions are also fun to meet and greet. Wat is known throughout the
land for his pornographic tapestries, and Cwen is called a “tapestrier”.
I gather Wat designs the dirty wall-hangings, and Cwen helps in the weaving
of them.
The book is written in
English, not American, so the spelling of some words are weird to us Yanks, such
as realise, demeanour, sombre, hiccoughed,
and practise, but I like that. The central plotline of course is to find out
who bashed in Gilder’s head, which leads to lots of tangents that often send our trio of sleuths in different directions, but that's a clever way to do some
character development.
The crime-humor angle aside, I
was impressed with how “real” the historical aspect of the tale felt. Things like moots,
weregilds, shire reeves, feme sole, the word ‘stuff’, and medieval privies really helped sell the 11th-century
England setting. Edith Pargeter would be
proud.
The ending is good, with
several nice twists that foul up Brother Hermitage’s best-laid plans. All the plot threads get tied up. I wouldn’t call Hermitage, Wat and Some
Nuns a whodunit in that, like in a Pink Panther
movie, the reader won't solve the case until the sleuthing trio unearth some key clues. OTOH, one crucial hint is given about halfway through the story which will point astute readers in the
right direction and is withheld from Hermitage and company.
Ratings…
Amazon:
4.5/5
based on 193 ratings and 69 reviews.
Goodreads: 4.39/5 based on 198
ratings and 8 reviews.
Kewlest New Word ...
Witter (v.) : to chatter or babble pointlessly
or at unnecessary length.
Others: Femme sole (sic, n.);
Weregild (n.).
Things That Sound Dirty But Aren’t…
Hermitage
had to admit the sight of her head appearing through a privy seat was not one
he was going to forget easily. (loc.
4083)
Excerpts...
“Nuns?” the boy asked.
“Yes.”
Cwen tried her best not to sound impatient. What little experience she’d had of children
had not made their behaviour any more acceptable.
They seemed charming at a distance, but
when you got close they were revolting, especially the tiny ones. When they were babies their bottoms didn’t
work properly and when they grew up it was their noses. It was like they were put on earth just to
leak stuff. “They’re like monks who are
women,” she explained. (loc. 2006)
“If we could find the place it is hidden
and see that some of it is gone, if not all of it, we can tell the moot that it
was a robbery. Wat didn’t do it because
a robber did.”
Cwen didn’t look convinced. “We have to find a hiding place that doesn’t
have anything (in) it. That will prove
that what isn’t there anymore was robbed?”
“Erm.” (loc. 3822)
Kindle Details…
Hermitage,
Wat and Some Nuns presently sells for $0.99 at Amazon, but
hurry, this deal will expire at the end of September. Book 4, Hermitage,
Wat and Some Murder or Other, is also discounted for the nonce to $0.99. The rest of the books in the series go for
anywhere from $2.99, to $5.99.
Generally and logically, the more recent the books are, the higher their price.
He had been told
once that he was a very agreeable fellow – and that if he didn’t sort that out
he would get nowhere. (loc.
3680)
There’s not much to gripe
about in Hermitage, Wat and Some Nuns. The language is impressively clean – just two
“hells” in the first 50% of the book. It validates my hypothesis that the quality of any given author’s writing is usually inversely proportional to the number of cusswords he employs.
Some reviewers disliked the way Howard of
Warwick uses footnotes to tout the earlier books in this series, but I thought
it was quite clever. By the second
footnote, the pattern can be discerned, and if it bothers you, then just don’t
open any further footnotes. You’ll miss
one or two witty remarks in later footnotes, but that’s NBD.
The biggest problem with Hermitage,
Wat and Some Nuns is the frequency of typos, grammar errors, and poor punctuation. Things like imaging/imagining, birth right/birthright,
discrete/discreet, mean/means, store house/storehouse, and many
more. But that's nothing that another round of editing won't fix.
But enough of the nitpicking. It’s always a delight to stumble across a
great series that you’ve been meaning to try for a long time, and that’s what Hermitage,
Wat and Some Nuns was for me. Daring
to blend Brother Cadfael historical fiction with Pink Panther mystery
zaniness is an ambitious undertaking, and Howard of Warwick makes it work nicely.
9 Stars. "Howard of Warwick" is obviously a pen name, and if you stay awake at night, wondering what his real name is, I have some good news for you. Mosey on over to the Copyright page and your query will be answered. Nonetheless, we will continue to list the author as “Howard of Warwick”. It’s. Just. That. Kewl.
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