The day has come to cast off the inconvenience of remunerated employment and take on the even greater inconvenience of relying on Brother Hermitage to put a crust on the table. I know what you’re thinking – it doesn’t need to be a big crust and even a medium crust can last several days – but we must hope the raw material keeps flowing.

At least The Case of the Curious Corpse is coming along nicely and The Case of the Cantankerous Carcass will be hard on its heels. After that? Well, if I put some crusts in the freezer we should be relatively fine.

At least the clock on the wall says that nearly 55,000 tales have gone and so perhaps there could be some butter on the crusts in alternate months.

The latest exploits finally see the light of day. Perhaps someone could switch the light off when they leave?

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a clerical cadaver must be in want of an investigator. Instead, there is Brother Hermitage and Wat the weaver and Cwen but they do their best; which is up to the usual standard and so should not give rise to unwarranted optimism. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LZNR0YB

The latest from the careful researches in the Scriptorium nears completion. The Chronicles of Brother Hermitage reach the milestone of volume 7 with The Case of the Clerical Cadaver.

A work of mystery and secrets and secret mysteries it is a tale full of words and characters and signifying very little at all.

King William inadvertently summons Brother Hermitage to investigate the greatest secret of the church; a secret to be hidden from one millennium to the next – until Hermitage, Wat and Cwen arrive of course.

What starts out as a simple murder, well, simple-ish, soon descends into chaos and disaster. But then what did you expect?

Available for pre order on Amazon any day now.

Herstmonceux castle hosted England’s medieval festival and the first appearance of the Howard of Warwick mobile Scriptorium. Attracting crowds of several, books were flying off the shelves, autographed with quill and ink upon request. Visitors included several knights and the Green Man.

To England’s Medieval Festival with books and a tent and readings to do in the Knights’ Tavern. 27th to 28th August should be plenty of time to carry out some essential research into pedigree Geese and the development of the quill. www.EnglandsMedievalFestival.com,