Merrily Watkins Series by Phil Rickman
Merrily Watkins #1
The Wine of Angels mw-1
Phil Rickman
The Rev. Merrily Watkins had never wanted a picture-perfect parish—or a huge and haunted vicarage. Nor had she wanted to walk straight into a local dispute over a controversial play about a strange 17th-century clergyman accused of witchcraft. But this is Ledwardine, steeped in cider and secrets. And, as Merrily and her daughter Jane discover, a it is village where horrific murder is an age-old tradition.
Read online
Merrily Watkins #2
Midwinter of the Spirit mw-2
Phil Rickman
The post of "Diocesan Exorcist" in the Church of England has changed to the preferred term "Delivery Ministry". It sounds less sinister, more caring, so why not a job for a woman? When offered the post the Rev. Merrily Watkins cannot easily refuse, having suffered uncanny experiences of her own.
Read online
Merrily Watkins #3
A Crown of Lights mw-3
Phil Rickman
A disused church near a Welsh border hamlet has already been sold off by the Church when it's discovered that the new owners are "pagans" who intend to use the building for their own rituals. Rev. Merrily Watkins, the diocesan exorcist, is called in, unaware of a threat from a deranged man.
Read online
Merrily Watkins #4
The Cure of Souls mw-4
Phil Rickman
Another mystery for exorcist Reverend Merrily Watkins. Dark shadows have gathered around a converted hopkiln where the last owner was brutally murdered, while a women claims her daughter is possessed by an evil spirit. Merrily untwines the history of a village and the legacy of Roman gypsies.
Read online
Merrily Watkins #5
The Lamp of the Wicked (MW5)
Phil Rickman
'You're looking at his inspiration. These are ones he wishes he'd done, the ones he wishes he'd got to first...' After half a century of decay, the village of Underhowle looked to be on the brink of a new prosperity. Now, instead, it seems destined for notoriety as the home of a psychotic serial killer. DI Francis Bliss, of Hereford CID, is convinced he knows where the bodies are buried. But Merrily Watkins, called in to conduct a controversial funeral, wonders if Bliss isn't blinkered by personal ambition. And are the Underhowle deaths really linked to perhaps the most sickening killings in British criminal history?Review“A monumentally ambitious fourth outing…” -- Kirkus Reviews“Chilling… fast–paced… provocative… even skeptics of the paranormal will shudder with fear.” -- Publishers Weekly, for The Cure of SoulsAbout the AuthorPhil Rickman, born in Lancashire, has won awards for his TV and radio journalism. After five acclaimed novels, he introduced this fascinating new series with The Wine of Angels. He is married and lives on the Welsh Border.
Read online
Merrily Watkins #5
The Lamp of the Wicked mw-5
Phil Rickman
It appears that the unlovely village of Underhowle is home to a serial killer. But as the police hunt for the bodies of more young women, Rev. Merrily Watkins fears that the detective in charge has become blinkered by ambition. Meanwhile, Merrily has more personal problems, like the anonymous phone calls, the candles and incense left burning in her church, and the alleged angelic visitations.
Read online
Merrily Watkins #6
The Prayer of the Night Shepherd (MW6)
Phil Rickman
There were certain phrases you could feel, like fingers up your spine. Hattie Chancery's room. The possessive. Present tense. Oh God... A crumbling hotel on the border of England and Wales. A suggestion of inherited evil, a strange love affair... and the long-disputed origins of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles. Fascinating for young Jane Watkins, flushed by the freedom of her first weekend job. But the sinister side becomes increasingly apparent to her mother, Merrily, diocesan exorcist for Hereford. Then come memories of a child-killer, blood in the fresh snow...From Publishers WeeklyWhen unemployed TV producer Ben Foley discovers that running murder-mystery weekends at Stanner Hall, an old Herefordshire mansion turned hotel he’s purchased, isn’t as profitable as he anticipated, he determines to prove his theory that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had in mind a tale from the Welsh border region, not Devon, for the background to The Hound of the Baskervilles. In British author Rickman’s chilling fifth entry in his occult crime series (The Lamp of the Wicked, etc.) featuring Merrily Watkins, the single mom, Anglican priest and exorcist gets involved in sinister doings rooted in actual legend, as the author explains in his afterword. Merrily’s independent 17-year-old daughter, Jane, takes a job with the hotel and enthusiastically supports Foley’s plans, until the local legend of a black dog that foreshadows death becomes all too real. A pre-Christmas snowstorm provides a shivering backdrop to events at Stanner Hall that lead Merrily, boyfriend Lol Robinson and Jane into a night none of them will forget. Human greed and evil, plus the healing properties of faith, combine to create a fascinating and fast-paced read. Sherlock Holmes fans, especially members of the Baker Street Irregulars, will be intrigued by an organization called "The Baker Street League."Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Review“A fine mixture of murder and the occult.” -- Library Journal“Chilling… fast–paced… provocative… even skeptics of the paranormal will shudder with fear.” -- Publishers Weekly for The Cure of Souls“Human greed and evil, plus the healing properties of faith, combine to create a fascinating and fast-paced read.” -- Publishers Weekly Review Annex“Rickman, a thinking reader's Elizabeth George, continues his traversal of Welsh superstitions, Church of England conundrums, and true-crime touchstones.” -- Kirkus Review
Read online
Merrily Watkins #6
The Prayer of the Night Shepherd mw-6
Phil Rickman
At Stanner Hall, a Victorian mansion-turned-hotel, Ben Foley hosts murder-mystery weekends and strives to prove that his hotel is the house on which Arthur Conan Doyle based his immortal Baskerville Hall. As the days shorten and the weather worsens, Foley’s dabbling uncovers more than he can handle. For the history of Stanner Hall is linked not only to the Victorian fascination with spiritualism and the legacy of a terrifying medieval exorcism — but with a chain of deaths that is far from fictional.
Read online
Merrily Watkins #7
The Smile of a Ghost mw-7
Phil Rickman
The border town of Ludlow has it all — exquisite medieval streets, a parish church the size of a cathedral, and a weight of history and legend. After a young teenage boy dies, his grandmother becomes convinced she's still seeing her dead grandson in the old town. Merrily Watkins, parish priest is brought in to find out if it is dementia, delusion or something even more disturbing?
Read online
Merrily Watkins #8
Remains of an Altar mw-8
Phil Rickman
In 1934, the dying composer Sir Edward Elgar feebly whistled to a friend the theme from his Cello Concerto and said, "If you're walking on the Malvern Hills and hear that, don't be frightened. It's only me." Seventy years later, Merrily Watkins—parish priest and Deliverance Consultant to the Diocese of Hereford—is called in to investigate an alleged paranormal dimension in a spate of road accidents in the Malvern village of Wychehill. There, Merrily discovers new tensions in Elgar's countryside. The proposed takeover of a local pub by a nightclub owner with a criminal reputation has become the battleground between the defenders of Olde Englande and the hard men of the drug world—with extreme and sinister elements on both sides. And as the choral society prepares to stage an open-air performance of Elgar's Caractacus at a prehistoric hill fort, the deaths begin.
Read online
Merrily Watkins #9
The Fabric of Sin mw-9
Phil Rickman
Called in secretly to investigate an allegedly haunted house with royal connections, Merrily Watkins, deliverance consultant for the Diocese of Hereford, is exposed to a real and tangible evil. A hidden valley on the border of England and Wales preserves a longtime feud between two old border families as well as an ancient Templar church with a secret that may be linked to a famous ghost story. On her own and under pressure with the nights drawing in, the hesitant Merrily has never been less sure of her ground. Meanwhile, Merrily’s closest friend, songwriter Lol Robinson, is drawn into the history of his biggest musical influence, the tragic Nick Drake, finding himself troubled by Drake’s eerie autumnal song "The Time of No Reply."
Read online
Merrily Watkins #10
To Dream of the Dead (MW10)
Phil Rickman
The village of Ledwardine has never been flooded in living memory, but as the river continues to rise with December rains, within days it will be an island. Electricity has been cut and the church is serving as a temporary mortuary for two people who drowned. Only one man feels safe: an aggressively atheist author who has been moved—for his own safety—into a secluded house just outside the village. Meanwhile, archaeologists—assisted by Merrily Watkins’s teenage daughter, Jane—are at work unearthing an ancient row of standing stones that some people would prefer stay buried. The atheist’s temporary home is close to the site, and his young wife is becoming conspicuously agitated. Is it the fear of discovery? With the flood water washing up Church Lane towards the vicarage and the shop running out of cigarettes, it looks to be a cold and complex Christmas for Merrily Watkins.From Publishers WeeklyPast and present collide with fatal results in British author Rickman's unsettling 10th mystery to feature parish priest Merrily Watkins (after 2008's The Fabric of Sin). A few days before Christmas, a body with a mutilated face turns up in a ruined monastery in the Herefordshire village of Ledwardine near the Welsh border. Also casting a pall over the holiday season are the threat of a flood and a contentious debate at a town meeting about whether to build a highway through a beloved meadow. Meanwhile, the unearthing of the ancient Dinedor Serpent, a prehistoric monument, leads Merrily's aspiring archeologist daughter, Jane, into dangerous territory. A newcomer to the village, an outspoken atheist despised by fundamentalists, adds fuel to a volatile mix. Amid the mayhem, Rickman skillfully weaves together the assorted subplots. Credible characters—some down-to-earth, others lunatic—and absorbing archeological lore are a plus. (Aug.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Review"Credible characters . . . and absorbing archeological lore are a plus." —Publishers Weekly"Merrily is a most original sleuth and an interesting, sparky woman of emotional and spiritual depth. Rickman is an excellent writer, terrific on atmosphere . . . The best so far." —The Times
Read online
Merrily Watkins #10
To Dream of the Dead mw-10
Phil Rickman
The village of Ledwardine has never been flooded in living memory, but as the river continues to rise with December rains, within days it will be an island. Electricity has been cut and the church is serving as a temporary mortuary for two people who drowned. Only one man feels safe: an aggressively atheist author who has been moved — for his own safety — into a secluded house just outside the village. Meanwhile, archaeologists — assisted by Merrily Watkins’s teenage daughter, Jane — are at work unearthing an ancient row of standing stones that some people would prefer stay buried. The atheist’s temporary home is close to the site, and his young wife is becoming conspicuously agitated. Is it the fear of discovery? With the flood water washing up Church Lane towards the vicarage and the shop running out of cigarettes, it looks to be a cold and complex Christmas for Merrily Watkins.
Read online
Merrily Watkins #11
The Secrets of Pain
Phil Rickman
Product DescriptionINTRODUCING MERRILY Merrily Watkins, parish priest, single mother, exorcist, works for the Diocese of Hereford in a remote village on the border of England and Wales. Like many men and women doing an essentially medieval job in an increasingly secular society, she's never certain how much she can permit herself to believe. It doesn't help that she sometimes has to work with psychiatrists and the police. Or that her employer, the Church of England, is far from free of prejudice, sexism, greed and corruption. Or that Merrily's teenage daughter is more interested in paganism than the priesthood. No wonder she smokes. No wonder she occasionally lapses into language hard to find in the Bible. THE SECRETS OF PAIN The elite warriors of the Hereford-based SAS know all about pain and the enduring of it. Syd Spicer, ex-SAS trooper, has found himself back the Regiment - this time as its chaplain, responsible for the spiritual welfare of the hardest men in or out of uniform. Faced with a case which would normally be passed discreetly to Hereford diocesan exorcist Merrily Watkins, Spicer is forced, for security reasons, to try and handle it himself...and is coming close to a breakdown. Meanwhile, the scattered communities along the Welsh border have their own crisis. With recession biting deep, urban crime has spilled into the countryside and old barbaric evils are revived. When a wealthy landowner is hacked to death in his own farmyard, the senior investigating officer, DI Frannie Bliss is caught in the backlash, his private life in danger of exposure. With the framework of her own world beginning to crack, Merrily Watkins is persuaded to venture into areas where neither a priest nor a woman is welcome...to unearth secrets linked with the border's pagan past. Secrets which she knows can never be disclosed. About the AuthorPhil Rickman lives on the Welsh border where he writes and presents the book programme Phil the Shelf on BBC Radio Wales. He is the hugely popular author of The Bones of Avalon and the Merrily Watkins Mysteries.
Read online
Merrily Watkins #11
