Midwinter Of The Spirit

'Exorcism' is a word no longer favoured by the Church of England. Nowadays the preferred term for dealing with cases of possession and paranormal disturbance is 'deliverance ministry'. It sounds less cold, less sinister more caring. So why shouldn't this be a job for a woman?

When offered the post once styled 'Diocesan Exorcist', the Reverend Merrily Watkins - single parent, rural parish priest, and unashamed nicotine addict - doesn't really see how she can refuse. For hasn't she already spoken out against the Church's reluctance to take a stance on psychic matters! Hasn't she also had inexplicable experiences of her own?

The young and progressive Bishop is keen to see a woman at the spiritual cutting edge. But the retiring exorcist - who strongly objects to women entering the priesthood not only refuses to be of help to Merrily but ensures that she's soon exposed to the job at its most terrifying and distasteful. And things get no easier.

As an early winter cuts through to the bones of the old city of Hereford, a body is found in the River Wye, an ancient church is desecrated and there are suggestions of dark ritual on a hill overlooking the city. Reports of psychic unrest in the Cathedral itself - where the famous medieval shrine of St Thomas Cantilupe now lies in fragments - reflect an undying evil. Alienated from her teenage daughter, Merrily can only turn for understanding to their friend Lol Robinson, a songwriter and former long-term psychiatric patient. Together they confront an unimaginable darkness lying close to the heart of the Anglican Church itself.

Based on long-established 'deliverance' techniques, Midwinter of the Spirit is the first spiritual-procedural thriller: the electrifying story of a professional woman who must walk in dark places where an often-intangible evil thrives uncurbed by the forces of law and order.

'Is the job of 'diocesan exorcist' for the Church of England one for a woman? When Merrily Watkins is offered the post, she can't easily refuse... but she soon finds it is a task that can be terrifying. Rickman weaves a sinister tale exceptionally well. A cracker.'

Manchester Evening News

'...even before she gets a flash office under the nose of her trendy Bishop boss, things start going bump all over the county and Merrily has to calm spirits both quick and dead. Rickman does the supernatural stuff with élan and builds around his heroine a rich hinterland of politicking clerics and mother-daughter growing pains - all of which makes for an entertaining read, with shivers.'

The Guardian

'No shortage of spine-chilling frissons. Rickman has undoubtedly created a new genre - the spiritual procedural thriller - and we can only hope it isn't too long before we meet the Reverend Watkins again...'

Crimetime

'Yes, she's now become a series character - possibly Britain's first female diocesan exorcist, or Deliverance Minister as it's now termed. The Deliverance people are, essentially, the Church's secret service. You can usually approach one only through your own minister, and it's an area the Church is still very unsure about - does it really believe in ghosts and demons, when a large proportion of the clergy doesn't even accept the virgin birth? Exorcism is bound to be an ecclesiastical hot potato and exorcists are on their own in a twilit world in which psychic phenomena are labelled with le Carre-esque euphemisms like hitchhiker... insomniac... volatile... I love it. It allows me to examine the supernatural with a forensic precision. And to put Merrily, a fallible and vulnerable character, into all kinds of moral and spiritual crises.

If it weren't for the profession of its heroine, Rickman's thriller would be a dead cert for Sunday evening TV...'

The Guardian