THE FIFTEENTH INSTALMENT IN THE MERRILY WATKINS SERIES
'Merrily Watkins is the most singular of crime fiction protagonists... As ever [Rickman]'s supremely skillful at teasing out the menace that lies behind English folk customs and legends and weaving them into a compelling contemporary narrative.' Mail on Sunday
The deepest evil, the most insidious manifestations of psychopathy, don't necessarily include murder. As the veteran exorcist Huw Owen tells Merrily Watkins, you don't need to kill to take a life.
The River Wye, according to local folklore, takes a life every year. But it's a very long river and arguably the most scenic in Britain. In the years since the poet William Wordsworth walked the water's edge with a sense of otherworldly wonder, the wooded hills and crags of the lower Wye Valley have become a refuge for the rich and the celebrated: people who think they can sidestep shadows but rarely see the deeper darkness forming around them.
Arlo Ripley, familiar from TV drama, seeks spiritual solace in a secluded church at the river's edge. But a famous face always attracts attention, and if Arlo thinks he can hide his failings here he couldn't be more wrong.
Up river, an ambitious writer thinks she's uncovering Wordworth's stranger secrets, while an urban career-criminal, newly out of prison, assures a sceptical DI Frannie Bliss that he's left his old life behind to find an unlikely pastoral peace.
A soured spring follows a long winter. Merrily Watkins, her role as diocesan exorcist becoming increasingly insecure, faces an evil for which someone in her job must always be prepared, in a place where history predates legend and an undercurrent of malevolence finds its own energy. No time to trust the Wye.
Industry Reviews
No one writes better of the shadow-frontier between the supernatural and the real world. * Bernard Cornwell, praise for Merrily Watkins *
Ancient history, violent deaths, feuds, intrigues and murder. A most original sleuth. * The Times, praise for Merrily Watkins *
Phil Rickman is one of my all-time favourites. I love everything he's done. * Diana Gabaldon, praise for Merrily Watkins *
[Rickman] is supremely skilful... a compelling contemporary narrative. * Mail on Sunday, praise for Merrily Watkins *
Tight with atmosphere, thick with latent violence... Brilliantly eerie. * Peter James, praise for Merrily Watkins *
Compassionate, original and sharply contemporary, Rickman's crime series is one of the best around. * Spectator, praise for Merrily Watkins *
Complex, absorbing, fascinating... * Andrew Taylor, praise for Merrily Watkins *
Few writers blend the ancient and supernatural with the modern and criminal better than Rickman. * Guardian, praise for Merrily Watkins *
The layers, the characters, the humour, the spookiness - perfect. * Elly Griffiths, praise for Merrily Watkins *
First rate crime with demons that go bump in the night. * Daily Mail, praise for Merrily Watkins *
Classic mysteries... [which] cleverly illuminate the darkest corners of our imaginations. * John Connolly, praise for Merrily Watkins *
Engrossing and beautifully dark... a cracking good read ensues. * Jo Brand, praise for Merrily Watkins *
