Nicholas Yermakov

Nicholas Yermakov (b. 1951) is an American author of mainly science fiction and fantasy novels under the pennames "Simon Hawke," "S. L. Hunter," and "J. D. Masters."

Among his works as Simon Hawke are a series of murder mysteries where William Shakespeare and a fictional friend of his, Symington "Tuck" Smythe, figure out "who done it." The grammar and diction in these books are poor, and many of the historical facts simply wrong, even more so than might be expected from a modern American trying to portray Elizabethan England. For example, the author has substituted "shall" for "will" throughout the books, refers to Shakespeare's riding bareback "like a red Indian" before Englishmen probably knew about Indians who had learned to ride Spanish horses in America, and has the order of titles reversed, saying that "baron" is next below "duke," "viscount" below "baron," and "earl" below "viscount." Many of the jokes about Shakespeare and his works were done earlier in the film Shakespeare in Love.

Shakespeare & Smythe mysteries :

• A Mystery of Errors ISBN 0-312-87372-7 & ISBN 0812564545
• The Slaying of the Shrew ISBN 0-312-87894-X & ISBN 0-765-34294-4
• Much Ado About Murder ISBN 0425186504

(As Simon Hawke) Time Wars :

• The Ivanhoe Gambit [Ace] [Headline in the UK]
• The Timekeeper Conspiracy [Ace] [Headline in the UK]
• The Pimpernel Plot [Ace] [Headline in the UK]
• The Zenda Vendetta [Ace] [Headline in the UK]
• The Nautilus Sanction [Ace] [Headline in the UK]
• The Khyber Connection [Ace] [Headline in the UK]
• The Argonaut Affair [Ace] [Headline in the UK]
• The Dracula Caper [Ace] [Headline in the UK]
• The Lilliput Legion [Ace]
• The Hellfire Rebellion [Ace]
• The Cleopatra Crisis [Ace]
• The Six-Gun Solution [Ace]