Howard of Warwick Books in Order

During a pointless theological debate in 1066, someone dies at De'Ath's Dingle and the wrong monk gets the case. Soon Brother Hermitage and Wat the Weaver are racing to solve the murder before Hermitage is executed for it.

In 1067, King William's hunting companion Henri de Turold is murdered under baffling circumstances. Hermitage is sent from De'Ath's Dingle to investigate before the king arrives and loses patience.

Just after Hastings, Duke William realizes something precious is missing and secretly sends a recovery party north. Rival pursuers, rough country, and mounting chaos turn the hunt into a comic race through a newly conquered England.

When the weaver Briston is murdered in a spectacularly odd way, Wat wants justice and Hermitage gets swept in. Missing maidens, giant killers, and too many enemies make this another wildly unruly case.

Sent to Normandy by the formidable Le Pedvin, Hermitage and Wat are supposed to bring a killer to justice. The trouble is that no one is even sure a murder has happened, or what the villagers are hiding.

This short story collection offers quick glimpses into the life and mind of Brother Hermitage. It is a light sampler of the series, with comic medieval vignettes and an easy way to meet the cast.

Ordered into Wales by Le Pedvin, Hermitage walks straight toward a prophecy of disaster. Murder, druids, sacrifices, and local feuds make this journey one of the strangest and most chaotic cases yet.

King John entrusts the copying of Magna Carta to the deeply unreliable Aelward Dunktish, which is the first sign something is wrong. Nobles, mercenaries, and competing schemes gather around a document that may not stay safe for long.

In summer 1068, Hermitage reaches Shrewsbury and finds a great merchant dead. The town, the sheriff, and a formidable set of nuns all think investigating is a bad idea, which naturally means he does it anyway.

King William sends Hermitage after a priest's death tied to a hidden monastery and a guarded secret. Greedy enemies, buried clues, and Hermitage's shaky investigative skills make this mystery especially risky.

A royal commission to buy expensive hawks draws Wat, Cwen, and Hermitage into fresh trouble. Cwen's peculiar relations, simmering tensions, and another killing leave all three deep in a very confused case.

On the eve of William's Christmas coronation, Hermitage and Wat race across a frozen England carrying a present from De'Ath's Dingle. It is a short winter journey filled with danger, bad timing, and their usual comic friction.

When his beloved old abbot asks for help, Hermitage cannot refuse. Normans, pagans, and a place no sensible monk would visit turn a personal case into a dangerous tangle of loyalties, superstition, and murder.

A very important corpse forces Hermitage into another investigation under the eye of Norman soldiers and Le Pedvin. With Hereward the Wake among the interested parties, everyone seems to profit from the death except Hermitage.

A young monk is killed at Abbot Abbo's monastery, setting off a tangled case that reaches back to Derby. Hermitage, Wat, and Cwen face suspects who seem less ashamed of murder than oddly proud of it.

Wat is dragged to the weavers' Grand Moot, where celebration quickly curdles into murder. Hermitage is pulled in as usual, and the culprits seem oddly proud of themselves and nowhere near finished.

In 1067, William's new kingdom is still coming apart, with Northumbrian earls dying fast and rival powers circling. The sequel turns the year after Hastings into a broad comic scramble of ambition, politics, and bad planning.

King William is less worried about Saxon resistance than about missing taxes, so he sends his reluctant investigator to look into it. Hermitage soon finds cheats, schemes, and a rising body count mixed into the conquest's finances.

Earl Odo wants a grand conquest tapestry made in Kent, but the nuns commissioned to create it start dying. Hermitage, Wat, and Cwen must untangle jealousy, politics, and artistic rivalry before more bodies follow.

Called to Chester by some peculiar monks, Hermitage investigates a priest suffocated with his own chasuble. The suspect list is long, the dead man may not be what he seemed, and the town is full of complications.

Hermitage heads to Lincoln to sort out a library and naturally finds murder waiting there. A mysterious parchment, magic lore, quarrelsome locals, and a lost monastery turn his dream assignment into another lethal muddle.

Lady Gudmund wants her missing husband, last seen riding south with King Harold, accounted for. Hermitage, Wat, and Cwen follow the trail toward Hastings and into a murder that seems obvious until everything starts going wrong.

An old wise woman of Derby is found dead in her hovel, and almost everyone has a reason to hate her. Hermitage must sort through locals, Norman soldiers, and extra bodies before the truth gets buried.

A hated man lies dead outside King William's chamber, and Hermitage is summoned to London's new fortress. Court rivalries, greedy heirs, rebels, and an eager replacement investigator turn one murder into a dangerous political mess.

This time the urgent case is a missing person, not quite a murder. Following a blatant trail, Hermitage is pushed onto boats, into old grudges, and toward a tangle of interests closing in from every side.

Bishop Geoffrey sends Hermitage, Wat, and Cwen to look into the death of Brother Egeus. The corpse is only the start, because nearly everyone around the case seems to have motives, secrets, and another agenda.

A baffling victim lands almost in Hermitage's lap and sends the party to Nottingham. With powerful people taking a sudden interest and Wat proposing wild theories, even Hermitage's last minute insights may not be enough.

Hermitage thinks he knows the killer from page one, which is a terrible sign by itself. A dead Norman noble, secret plans, suspicious servants, and a locked trunk prove the case is far messier than it looks.

Ordered to investigate a missing person, Hermitage is horrified to learn the trail leads back to De'Ath's Dingle. Old faces, darker than usual monastery business, and even a fresh murder do not improve matters.

Hermitage worries Derby's recent deaths are not as natural as they look, so he goes looking for trouble and promptly finds it. At the same time, a Norman with murder in mind is making for Derby, and both problems are heading straight for the King's Investigator.

King William's messenger drags Hermitage north on a very important case. Strange history, a dangerous secret, and Bart's enthusiasm make the trip feel less like an honor than a trap.

Wat and Cwen are finally set to marry, provided no murder disrupts the day. Then one of Walter d'Aincourt's men dies, the Saxons are blamed, and Hermitage must somehow rescue both the investigation and the wedding.

Derby's floods wash up a dead abbot, and Hermitage has to identify both the killer and the monastery he came from. The search sends Hermitage, Wat, and Cwen into wet countryside and unwelcome monastic company.

Two rival versions of the Norman Conquest are being presented in Derby when an arrow kills someone in the crowd. Everyone claims to know something, but no one seems willing to tell the truth.

A London apprentice goldsmith brings Hermitage a baffling plea about a murder case. To prevent disaster, Wat and Cwen head to London, where Norman law and a hanging sentence raise the stakes fast.

Strict orders say Hermitage must stay away from a sensitive case at a remote outpost, because it definitely is not murder. Ancient ritual, local feuds, and instant confusion suggest otherwise almost immediately.

Stranded at a priory while plotting their escape from Gernesey, Hermitage and friends swear there will be no time for fresh trouble. Then a monk dies, the house stays strangely calm, and treasure enters the picture.

A corpse is left on Wat's doorstep, but Hermitage is forbidden even to mention it. As Normans crowd Derby and everyone pretends no one has died, he has to investigate by asking without asking.

Cwen's simple family visit turns complicated when the ferryman at Ermendone vanishes. Rivers, suspicious villagers, and the threat of more deaths leave Hermitage stuck with travel, mystery, and the last job Wat wants.

King William sends Hermitage to Northantone, where people insist a monster is killing at night. With frightened locals, a dead hunter, and Wat's awkward history in town, the case keeps getting stranger.

An honorary place on William's Standing Conclave sounds flattering until Hermitage reaches Nottingham and smells conspiracy. Overheard whispers, a chest with a nasty surprise, and royal family tensions suggest a very real plot.

As Cwen goes into labor, Hermitage hopes for a rare break from murder. Instead a body appears in busy Derby, everyone denies knowing the victim, and he is firmly told not to investigate.