a deviant burial
a legend of the undead
still seductive
still deadly
‘Intelligent rationalists will enjoy the way Rickman engages with the supernatural.’
THE TIMES Crime Pick.
‘Great stuff, with the atmosphere of Herefordshire superbly depicted.’
GHOSTS AND SCHOLARS the MR James newsletter.
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‘….there’s nothing predictable or stale about this series.
No one in the business deals with the spooky stuff better. As ever, there are bags of atmospheric locations, plenty of tantalising snippets of folklore and archaeology and enough spine-tingling moments to keep everyone happy. Rickman doesn’t just tread a careful line between the supernatural and the natural world – he skips nimbly along it with his customary flair! A year seems a very long time to wait for the next book in the series.’
CRIME REVIEW UK
‘Rickman’s art involves combining an ostensibly standard police procedural with a sense of something going on around the investigation that is not entirely of this world… a gripping read which will more than satisfy existing Merrily Watkins fans, and will also win her many new devotees.’
CRIME FICTION LOVER
‘Phil Rickman’s Merrily Watkins series is characterised by compulsively strong starts to each story and a supernatural element that emerges organically and ambiguously out of history and location in a manner that’s always disconcertingly plausible. He’s created a world in microcosm presented as a community in a rural crime saga that’s both tellingly human and huge in scope. It’s a marvelous achievement and long may it continue.’
FRANCIS COTTAM
‘Rickman’s series is gaining a mass of fans with each book.This one will keep you entranced until the final page.’
CRIMESQUAD
infrared picture: John Mason
