The Smile Of A Ghost

The Smile of a Ghost finds Andy Mumford, newly and unwillingly retired as a detective sergeant, having to deal with the death of his young nephew in a fall from the ruined castle in the elegant medieval town of Ludlow. Disturbed by his elderly and possibly-demented mother's claims to have seen the dead boy walking in the town, Mumford informally consults Merrily Watkins......who is having problems with the diocese's new Deliverance Panel, including a powerfully-ambitious and politically-correct woman priest and a sceptical psychiatrist.

So begins a dark and twisted tale of murder, serial suicide, teenage angst and a noxious obsession with the nature of death and the afterlife, as the hesitant Merrily - no stranger to a crisis of faith or confidence - battles Church of England politics to approach the truth. Meanwhile her teenage daughter, Jane, investigates something altogether closer to their home in the cider-apple village of Ledwardine… in the build-up to a night of madness, knife-edge tension and astonishing revelation.

Reviews for The Smile of a Ghost

'Compassionate, original and sharply contemporary, Rickman's crime series is one of the best around.'

THE SPECTATOR, Books of the Year 2005
'Merrily, a fully-drawn heroine and fascinating personality in her own right, acts as the reader's conduit into this slightly askew world where even exorcists are sceptics and work alongside police, psychiatrists and lawyers. Add a finely sketched portrayal of provincial England and you get a first class thriller with a difference.'

Maxim Jakubowski, THE GUARDIAN

'Will keep readers mesmerized from start to finish.'

PUBLISHERS' WEEKLY
'The Merrily Watkins books are easily among the most interesting being written in Britain today.'

TANGLED WEB

'Rickman has a great sense of time and place, an acute ear for dialogue, and can weave a chilling 'web.'

CHOICE
'The Smile of a Ghost harkens back to a more primal form of mystery... dances about the boundaries of life and death with ease. Slipping into Rickman's story is like watching a Renaissance painter stroke by stroke, each detail perfect - step back and the portrait is revealed, as if by magic. '

Rick Kleffel, The Agony Column

INTERNATIONAL ACCLAIM FOR THE SMILE OF A GHOST

The setting is brilliant. Rickman plays with the town... a tourist hangout which is being challenged by the rich in search of mansions and grounds. Does a great job in blending the mystery into a larger story of alienation and tragedy. Merrily Watkins is a fine detective and an excellent priest. Toronto Globe & Mail

'Ingenious.'

The Bookseller

'Masterly... will keep readers mesmerized from start to finish.'

Publishers' Weekly