The Heretics of De'Ath (The Chronicles of Brother Hermitage Book 1) - Kindle edition by Howard of Warwick. Humor & Entertainment Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

If you are looking for another brilliant detective like Brother Cadfael in "The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael" or the deep character and immersive world development of Ken Follett's "Kingsbridge" series then this series is NOT for you. If think you are the kind of person who might get a laugh or two from reading something akin to a Monty Python medieval Inspector Clouseau then gamble a couple of bucks on this series. 😁

Clearly not to everyone’s taste. It’s a pity, the writing is far better than you’d think from the posted reviews. Obviously some folk are catching on because the price of the series is going up. I’m glad for the author but sorry for myself— already addicted, I was hoping to score the rest of the series for cheap.Can’t recommend generally: people expecting the expected are going to be disappointed. I loved the Cadfael series, but this is an entirely kettle of fish. Amazon is heaving with inept and poorly written imitations of the inimitable Pargeter. This is not that.If you like Jonathan Swift or think Kafka’s a knee-slapper, you might be disposed to appreciate the mood here. I had to stop highlighting my favorite bits because it just got out of hand.

I wasn't sure when I started this if I was going to like it--the writing seemed a bit rough. However, I soon got into it and found it an interesting read. Not that complex, but entertaining.My main complaint is that, while I don't object to a story being continued in a future volume, I do expect each volume to have an ending of some sort. I'm accustomed to books ending with a near-cliffhanger but I don't think I've ever read one before that just *stopped* virtually in the middle of a conversation. The file didn't even have a "the end" or anything. Two people are conversing and then there's just no more text. It was more annoying than you might believe--the author would have needed no more than a few sentences to wrap up the current scene and lay the groundwork for the next volume but they didn't bother. Add to that a profusion of grammar and punctuation errors--never quite enough to make me stop reading but enough to interrupt the flow of the story, and....I find myself thinking, "Well, if the author didn't care about their own story any more than this, why should I?" Not sure if I'd buy the next volume in the story or not. This kind of seemingly minor annoyance can linger--especially when it's your last 'view' of a book.

The writing style takes a little getting used to, and until I was fairly well into the book I really wondered whether I would continue with the series. That said, I found many passages amusing, a little of "Black Adder" mixed with the "Hitchhiker Guide to the Galaxy: (without the space inferences). The squalor and filth of the era (1066 and all that) comes across together with a sideways look at the attitudes of nobles and clergy at a time when anything was apparently OK provided it feathered your own nest. The main tow characters who make an unlikely twosome, wend their way through a murder and although some of the passages in the book appear to be repeated utterances, it is a light hearted view of the chaos of the times which is very refreshing.

This tale was so well written and so absolutely hilarious I caught myself laughing out loud and scaring my pets and husband. The chronicler has done his research well; the scenery and historical elements are utterly believable. The characters are true gems - you will come to adore Brother Hermitage and the indomitable Wat. The style is very "british humour" - wry puns and plays on words, along with deadpan exchanges that are positively riotous. The mystery is actually a good one, and the subject matter is erudite - do NOT miss your chance to read this book. I cannot WAIT for the next Chronicle, so Howard, get thy behind to the scriptorium and keep the stories coming!