A writer from Sussex has achieved top spot on Amazon with a comedic take on medieval history.
Howard Matthews’ publication, The 1066 to Hastings, has reached worldwide readership despite industry professionals insisting that medieval crime comedy did not constitute a viable market category.
Undeterred by such assessments, Mr Matthews proceeded with his vision and has now recorded 250,000 copies sold alongside two dozen number-one best-selling titles.
Building on the achievements of The Bayeux Embroidery, which coincided with the Bayeux Tapestry’s display in London, The 1066 to Hastings delivers what the description calls a wildly entertaining story of killing and chaos set in 1066.
The plot centres on Lady Gudmund, a Saxon noblewoman, who searches for her vanished husband after he departed southward alongside King Harold toward Hastings and failed to return.
Brother Hermitage, the monarch’s appointed investigator of homicides, takes up the case, though he anticipates a straightforward resolution.
Teaming with Wat the Weaver and Cwen as travelling companions, he traverses settings ranging from workshops to estate manor houses in pursuit of what appears to be an open-and-shut murder case.
The peculiarity of the investigation lies in the investigator’s absolute certainty regarding the perpetrator’s identity yet finding himself entirely disbelieved by others.
The 1066 to Hastings can be purchased through standard retail platforms including Amazon and Apple.