A spooky supernatural thriller by the author of the Merrily Watkins seriesLiam Defford doesn't believe in ghosts. As the head of a production company, however, he does believe in high-impact TV. On the lookout for his next idea, he hires journalist Grayle Underhill to research the history of Knap Hall—a Tudor farmhouse turned luxury hotel, abandoned by its owners at the height of its success. The staff has been paid to keep quiet about what happened there, but the ...

The Cure of SoulsWhen the local vicar refuses to help his parishioners in the aftermath of a savage murder, Diocesan Exorcist Merrily Watkins is sent in by the bishop. Already involved in the case of a schoolgirl whose mother thinks she's possessed by evil, Merrily is drawn into a deadly tangle of deceit as she uncovers the twisted secrets of the village's past.The Lamp of the WickedA serial killer is on the loose in the small village...

A thrilling collection starring the intriguing Merrily Watkins - late thirties, single mum, and diocesan exorcistThe Cure of SoulsWhen the local vicar refuses to help his parishioners in the aftermath of a savage murder, diocesan exorcist Merrily Watkins is sent in by the bishop. Already involved in the case of a schoolgirl whose mother thinks she's possessed by evil, Merrily is drawn into a deadly tangle of deceit as she uncovers the twisted secre...

An eerie novella for fans of the Merrily Watkins seriesThe angular, modernist house was an unexpected bargain for Zoe and Jonathan Mahonie—newcomers to the city of Hereford and apparently unaware that the house's pristine, white interior walls had been coated with the lifeblood of a previous owner. How is Merrily Watkins, diocesan exorcist for Hereford, to know if Zoe Mahonie is lying or deluded when she claims that the wrathful Susan Lulham is still in residence? T...

THE SIXTEENTH 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 ''I called on Darkness-but before the word Was uttered, midnight darkness seemed to take All objects from my sight...' William Wordsworth England's most famous poet once thought ...

The Prayer of the Night ShepherdA 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. Young Jane Watkins is fascinated, but her mother, Merrily, Diocesan Exorcist, can soon see the sinister side. Especially when blood appears in the fresh snow.The Smile of a GhostIn the affluent, hi...

It begins in the fog, with a bleak village funeral. In the early hours of the following morning, Merrily Watkins and her daughter Jane are made aware that Aidan Lloyd, son of a wealthy farmer, will not be resting in peace. A rural tradition is displaying its sinister side as an old feud re-ignites. It's already a fraught time for Merrily, her future threatened by a bishop committed to restricting her role as deliverance consultant, or diocesan exorcist. Suddenly there are events she can't ...

The first book in the Dr. Dee series of Tudor thrillers, about the astrologer royal to Queen Elizabeth I—a brew of compelling storytelling, devious politics, witchcraft, and necromantic artsIt is 1560, and Elizabeth Tudor has been on the throne for a year. Dr John Dee, at 32 already acclaimed throughout Europe, is her astrologer and consultant in the hidden arts—a controversial appointment in these days of superstition and religious strife. Now the mild, bookish De...

A medieval legend spawns an unhealthy cult, and a terrifying 13th case for Merrily WatkinsWhen autumn storms blast Hereford, centuries-old human bones are found among the roots of a tree blown down on the city's Castle Green. But why have they been stolen? At the nearby Cathedral, another storm is building around a new, modernizing bishop who believes that if the Church is to survive it must phase out irrelevant archaic practices. Not good news for Merrily Watkins, ...

A rainy night in the cathedral city of Hereford. A grisly murder is linked by DI Francis Bliss with the campaign to preserve an ancient ritual site. And then Bliss is sidelined by his boss. What's going on?In the village of Ledwardine, Merrily Watkins stands between an extreme fundamentalist Christian and an atheist writer known as 'The Devil's Spin Doctor'.Tensions are rising… and so is the river. Soon Ledwardine will be isolated by floods, cut off with a killer inside - a...

Merrily Watkins, parish priest, single mum and Deliverance Consultant to the Diocese of Hereford, heads for the Malvern Hills to investigate an alleged paranormal dimension to a spate of road accidents in the sleepy village of Wychehill.Merrily is called in when two people are killed in a head-on crash that is also linked to the revamped local pub which, it seems, has injected the valley with a shattering, strobing surge of inner-city nightlife... and drugs. When a dealer is found ...

The Master House, close to the Welsh border, is medieval and slowly falling into ruins. Now the house and its surrounding land have been sold to the Duchy of Cornwall. But the Duchy's plans to renovate the house and its outbuildings are frustrated when the specialist builder refuses to work there. 'This is a place,' he tells the Prince's land-steward, 'that doesn't want to be restored.'Directed by the Bishop of Hereford to investigate, deliverance consultant Merrily Watkins discove...