New Releases by Phil Rickman

''Brilliantly eerie'' PETER JAMES ''Engrossing and beautifully dark . . . a cracking good read'' JO BRAND ''A most original sleuth'' THE TIMES Welcome to the River Wye: a place of poetry, historic obsession... and occult murder. Nestled deep in the Black Mountains, the village of Longtown is haunted by the double suicide of a lottery winner and his wife. A rich Londoner, unaware of the town''s dark history, buys the dead man''s cottage in the hopes of refurbishing it...then begins to fall victim to a host of bad luck. Luckily DS David Vaynor and Merrily Watkins - parish priest, single mum and renowned demon exorcist - are on the case. More praise for Phil Rickman ''Cleverly illuminates the darkest corners of our imagination'' John Connolly ''The layers, the characters, the humour, the spookiness - perfect'' Elly Griffiths ''First rate crime with demons that go bump in the night'' Daily Mail ''No one writes better of the shadow-frontier between the supernatural and the real world'' Bernard Cornwell

''Brilliantly eerie'' PETER JAMES ''Engrossing and beautifully dark . . . a cracking good read'' JO BRAND ''A most original sleuth'' THE TIMES Welcome to the River Wye: a place of poetry, historic obsession... and occult murder. The curious death of an estate agent is being investigated by detective David Vaynor who, before joining the police, studied the famous 18th century poet William Wordsworth. As Vaynor is discovering, the dark paganism that changed Wordsworth''s life still lingers on the banks of the River Wye today - and there are some killings even the police can''t approach... Enter Merrily Watkins, parish priest, single mum, and diocesan exorcist for Hereford. Called away from her local hauntings, Merrily finds herself confronting the riverside ghosts who, as Wordsworth puts it, ''promote ill purposes and flatter foul desires''. In the ancient heart of the Wye Valley, a buried grudge is about to come to light. *Book 16 in the Merrily Watkins series - now a critically acclaimed ITV drama starring Anna Maxwell-Martin!* More praise for Phil Rickman ''Cleverly illuminates the darkest corners of our imagination'' John Connolly ''The layers, the characters, the humour, the spookiness - perfect'' Elly Griffiths ''First rate crime with demons that go bump in the night'' Daily Mail ''No one writes better of the shadow-frontier between the supernatural and the real world'' Bernard Cornwell

When Aidan Lloyd''s bleak funeral is followed by a nocturnal ritual in the fog, it becomes all too clear that Aidan, son of a wealthy farmer, will not be resting in peace. Aidan''s hidden history has reignited an old feud, and a rural tradition begins to display its sinister side. It''s already a fraught time for Merrily Watkins, her future threatened by a bishop committed to restricting her role as diocesan exorcist for Hereford. Suddenly there are events she can''t talk about as she and her daughter Jane find themselves potentially on the wrong side of the law.

A medieval legend spawns an unhealthy cult, and a terrifying 13th case for Merrily Watkins When 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, consultant on the paranormal or, as it used to be known, diocesan exorcist. Especially as she''s now presented with the job at its most medieval. In the moody countryside on the edge of Wales, a rambling 12th-century house is thought to be haunted. Although its new owners don''t believe in ghosts, they do believe in spiritual darkness and the need for exorcism. But their approach to Merrily is oblique and guarded. No-one can be told—least of all, the new bishop. Merrily''s discovery of the house''s links with the medieval legend of a man who resisted mortality threatens to expose the hidden history of a more modern cult and its trail of insidious abuse—a trail that may not be closed.

Elisabeth Tudor est devenue reine d''Angleterre un an auparavant. Son astrologue, le fameux John Dee, est l’un des rares hommes de confiance. C’est lui qu’elle envoie à Glastonbury pour retrouver les reliques du roi Arthur, dont la possession est devenue vitale pour la famille royale. John Dee découvre qu''un mystère plane sur la condamnation et la mise à mort du père supérieur de cette l''abbaye. Les moines protégeraient un secret qui déchaîne toujours les passions et attise les convoitises. Dans ce lieu à la fois étrange et fascinant, sur lequel plane l''ombre du roi Arthur et de ses chevaliers, l''astrologue mène l''enquête. Mais un meurtre d''une extrême sauvagerie bouleverse les cartes et sème la terreur... « Dans la lignée de CJ Samson, Ian Pears et Ken Follett : une révélation ! » (The Times)

An eerie novella for fans of the Merrily Watkins series The 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? Then comes another bloody death. Who is the real killer?

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 arts It 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 Dee has been sent to Glastonbury to find the missing bones of King Arthur, whose legacy was always so important to the Tudor line. With him is hardly the safest companion—his friend and former student, Robert Dudley, a risk-taker, a wild card, and possibly the Queen''s secret lover. The famously mystical town is still mourning the gruesome execution of its Abbot, Richard Whiting. But why was the Abbot really killed? What is the secret held by the monks since the Abbey was founded by Joseph of Arimathea, uncle of Christ and guardian of the Holy Grail? The mission takes Dee to the tangled roots of English magic, into unexpected violence, necromantic darkness, the breathless stirring of first love, and the cold heart of a complex plot against Elizabeth.

A spooky supernatural thriller by the author of the Merrily Watkins series Liam 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 stories seep through. They''re not conducive to a quick sale, but Defford isn''t interested in keeping Knap Hall for more than a few months. Just long enough to make a reality TV show that will run nightly. A house isolated by its rural situation and its dark reputation; six people—known to the nation but strangers to one another—locked inside; but this time Big Brother is not in control.

When a man''s body is discovered in the picturesque town of Hay-on-Wye, his death appears to be "unnatural" in every sense. Merrily Watkins, parish priest, single mother, and exorcist, is drafted in to investigate, in this 12th installment A man''s body is found below a waterfall. It looks like suicide or an accidental drowning—until DI Frannie Bliss enters the dead man''s home. What he finds there sends him to Merrily Watkins, the Diocese of Hereford''s official advisor on the paranormal. It''s been nearly 40 years since Hay was declared an independent state by its self-styled king—a development seen at the time as a joke, a publicity scam. But behind this pastiche a dark design was taking shape, creating a hidden history of murder and ritual-magic, the relics of which are only now becoming horribly visible. It''s a situation that will take Merrily Watkins—alone for the first time in years—to the edge of madness.

Tudor intrigue, murder, and the dark arts—the second in a stunning and acclaimed historical series starring Dr. John Dee, perfect for fans of C. J. Sansom All talk is of the End-time, and the dead are rising. At the end of the sunless summer of 1560, black rumor shrouds the death of the one woman who stands between Lord Robert Dudley and marriage to the young Queen Elizabeth. Did Dudley''s wife, Amy, die from an accidental fall in a deserted house, or was it murder? Even Dr. John Dee, astrologer royal, adviser on the Hidden, and one of Dudley''s oldest friends, is uncertain. Then a rash promise to the Queen sends him to his family''s old home on the Welsh Border in pursuit of the Wigmore Shewstone, a crystal credited with supernatural properties. With Dee goes Robert Dudley, considered the most hated man in England. They travel with a London judge sent to try a sinister Welsh brigand with a legacy dating back to the Battle of Brynglas. After the battle, many of the English bodies were, according to legend, obscenely mutilated. Now, on the same haunted hill, another dead man has been found, similarly slashed. Devious politics, small-town corruption, twisted religion, and a brooding superstition leave John Dee isolated in the land of his father.

In the ruins of a haunted medieval abbey, four musicians hope to tap into the site''s dark history—an experience that almost destroys them Thirteen years ago on a cold December night, a rock band called The Philosophers Stone gathered in the ancient ruins of an abbey to record their new album.The evening ended in bloodshed and death. Now, the tapes from that fateful recording session have been released as The Black Album, and the scattered members of the band know it''s time for a reunion. Time to return to that dark December night—for one final performance.

The discovery of an Iron Age body preserved in the peat bogs surrounding the village of Bridelow is one of the finds of the century Though dead for two millennia, he remains perfectly preserved in black peat. The Man in the Moss is one of the most fascinating finds of the century, but for the isolated Pennine community of Bridelow, his removal is a sinister sign. A danger to the ancient spiritual tradition maintained, curiously, by the Mothers'' Union. In the weeks approaching Samhain—the Celtic feast of the dead—tragedy strikes again in Bridelow. Scottish folk singer Moira Cairns and American film producer Mungo Macbeth discover their Celtic roots are deeper and darker than they imagined. And, as fundamentalist zealots of both Christian and satanic persuasions challenge an older, gentler faith, the village faces a natural disaster unknown since the reign of Henry VIII.

Glastonbury Tor is the legendary resting place of the Holy Grail, but something else also rests beneath the hill Glastonbury, legendary resting place of the Holy Grail, is a mysterious and haunting town. But when plump, dizzy Diane Ffitch returns home, it''s with a sense of deep unease—and not only about her aristocratic family''s reaction to her broken engagement and her New Age companions. Plans for a new motorway have intensified the old bitterness between the local people and the "pilgrims," so already the sacred air is soured. And, as the town becomes increasingly split by violence and death, Diane, local bookseller Juanita Carey, and the writer Joe Powys must now face up to the worst of all possibilities: the existence of an anti-Grail—the dark chalice.

Every night for 400 years, a curfew bell has tolled from the church tower of Crybbe—superstitious ritual or sole defense against an ancient evil? In Crybbe, only strangers walk at twilight . . . For 400 years, the curfew bell has tolled nightly from the church tower of the small country town, Crybbe''s only defense against the evil rising unbidden in its haunted streets. Radio reporter Fay Morrison came to Crybbe because she had no choice. Millionaire music tycoon Max Goff came because there was nothing left to conquer, except the power of the spirit. But he knew nothing of the town''s legacy of dark magic—and nobody felt like telling him.

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 discovers ancient connections between the house and the nearby church, built by the Knights Templar whose shadow still envelopes isolated Garway Hill and its scattered communities. Why did all the local inns have astrological names? What deep history lies behind the vicious feud between two local families? And what happened here to intimidate even the great Edwardian ghost-story writer M. R. James? When Merrily learns that she--and even her daughter, Jane--are under surveillance by the security services, she''s ready to quit. But a sudden death changes everything, and she returns to Garway to uncover fibres of fear and hatred stitched into history and now insidiously twisted in the corridors--and the cloisters--of power.

A supernatural thriller exploring the darker side of rural life in a remote Welsh mountain village, where primal fears and ancient longings haunt the present day Corpse-candles. Phantom funerals. The bird of death. It was insidious . . . For Bethan, the schoolteacher, the old superstitions woven into the social fabric of her West Wales village are primitive and distasteful, which is why she''s pleased to welcome the sophisticated newcomers: London journalist Giles Freeman and his wife Claire. Surely they''ll let in some fresh air. But the Freemans are keen to absorb this different culture, a whole new way of life, rejecting the advice of an old colleague who warns them of a hard and bitter land where they''ve always danced on the edge of the abyss. They soon learn that this community hides an ancient, bloody, and pagan secret—one that will haunt them forever.

The Prayer of the Night Shepherd 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. 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 Ghost In the affluent, historic town of Ludlow, a teenage boy dies in a fall from the castle ruins. Accident or suicide? And why does the boy''s uncle turn to exoricist Merrily Watkins? Merrily must work fast as the death toll rises, but there is a dangerous obsession lurking in these shadowed medieval streets.

The Cure of Souls When 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 Wicked A serial killer is on the loose in the small village of Underhowle. DI Francis Bliss is convinced he knows where the bodies are buried. But Merrily wonders if Bliss isn''t blinkered by personal ambition. And are the Underhowle deaths really linked to some of the most sickening killings in British history?

A thrilling collection starring the intriguing Merrily Watkins - late thirties, single mum, and diocesan exorcist The Cure of Souls When 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 Wicked A serial killer is on the loose in the small village of Underhowle. DI Francis Bliss is convinced he knows where the bodies are buried. But Merrily wonders if Bliss isn''t blinkered by personal ambition. And are the Underhowle deaths really linked to some of the most sickening killings in British history?

Merrily Watkins, parish priest, single mother, and exorcist, works for the Diocese of Hereford in a remote village on the border of England and Wales. Cozy? Not in the least. 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 in 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 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.

Im Haus der Templer wohnt das Böse. Das alte Master House neben der Templerkirche von Garway soll endlich renoviert werden. Doch dunkle Gerüchte umgeben das Anwesen. Exorzistin Merrily Watkins nimmt die Sache zunächst nicht so ernst. Dann werden zwei Menschen ermordet, und Merrily macht sich durch Nachfragen unbeliebt. Sie gerät dem jahrhundertealten Streit zweier Familien auf die Spur und deckt Furchtbares auf, das im Master House geschah – ein verderbenstiftendes Gespinst aus Sex, Blut und Magie. «Sein bisher bestes Buch.» (The Times)

Merrily is called to investigate a possible ghost sighting in her seventh fascinating adventure In the affluent, historic town of Ludlow, a teenage boy dies in a fall from the castle ruins. Accident or suicide? No great mystery—so why does the boy''s uncle, retired detective Andy Mumford, turn to diocesan exorcist Merrily Watkins? More people will die before Merrily, her own future uncertain, uncovers a dangerous obsession with suicide, death, and the afterlife hidden within these shadowed medieval streets.

The sixth Merrily Watkins mystery finds her daughter embarking on a first job, and running into a dark local legend 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.

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 new kind of killer for a cold new age.

In Merrily''s fifth outing, a serial killer appears to be on the loose—and Merrily has her doubts about the detective in charge of the case 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?

Merrily Watkins faces multiple occult threats in her fourth outing In Herefordshire''s hop-growing country, where the river flows as dark as beer, a converted kiln is the scene of a savage murder. When the local vicar refuses to help its new owners cope with the aftermath, 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, the hesitant Merrily is drawn into a deadly tangle of deceit, corruption, and sexual menace as she uncovers the secrets of a village with a past as twisted as the hop-bines which once enclosed it.

Exorcist Reverend Merrily Watkins is challenged by a modern day witch hunt, in her third adventure When a redundant church is bought by a young pagan couple, the local fundamentalist minister reacts with fury. In an isolated community on the Welsh border, a modern witch hunt begins. Diocesan exorcist Merrily Watkins is expected to keep the lid on the cauldron, but what she finds out will seriously test her beliefs. Also, there''s the problem of the country lawyer who won''t be parted from his dead wife; the mystery of five ancient churches all dedicated to St. Michael, slayer of dragons; and a killer with an old tradition to guard.

Reverend Merrily Watkins finds herself replacing a retiring exorcist who is determined to make the transition as unpleasant as possible Diocesan Exorcist: a job viewed by the Church of England with such extreme suspicion that they changed the name. It''s Deliverance Consultant now. Still, it seems, no job for a woman. But when the Bishop offers it to Merrily Watkins, parish priest and single mother, she''s in no position to refuse. It starts badly for Merrily and gets no easier. As an early winter slices through the old city of Hereford, a body is found in the River Wye, an ancient church is desecrated, and signs of evil appear in the cathedral itself, where the tomb of a medieval saint lies in pieces.