Read Series: Merrily Watkins
by Author Phil Rickman
A Crown of Lights (2001)
When a derelict country church is bought by a pagan couple, the local evangelical minister reacts with fury. A modern witch hunt begins, and Merrily Watkins is expected to keep a lid on the cauldron. Meanwhile, there is the problem of the man who won’t be parted from his dead wife, the ancient my...
The Wine of Angels (1999)
The Rev. Merrily Watkins had never wanted a picture-perfect parish — or a huge and haunted vicarage. Nor had she wanted to walk straight into a local dispute over a controversial play about a strange 17th-century clergyman accused of witchcraft. But this is Ledwardine, steeped in cider and secret...
The Lamp of the Wicked (2003)
It appears that the unlovely village of Underhowle is home to a serial killer. But as the police hunt for the bodies of more young women, Rev. Merrily Watkins fears that the detective in charge has become blinkered by ambition. Meanwhile, Merrily has more personal problems, like the anonymous pho...
The Cure of Souls (2002)
As high summer bakes the rich earth of north-east Herefordshire, dark shadows gather around a converted hopkiln where the last owner was savagely murdered. Though the local vicar dismisses claims by its current occupants that the place is haunted, their story is soon splashed over a Sunday newspa...
The Prayer of the Night Shepherd (2004)
The Prayer of the Night Shepherd is the sixth entry in the Merrily Watkins series. As is the case with any novel based on a set of recurring characters, this could either be a cause for celebration or a cookie-cutter rehash of previous novels. For some authors, this would be just another paint-...
Midwinter of the Spirit (2000)
The post of Diocesan Exorcist in the Church of England has changed to the preferred term Delivery Ministry. It sounds less sinister, more caring, so why not a job for a woman? When offered the post the Rev. Merrily Watkins cannot easily refuse, having suffered uncanny experiences of her own.
The Smile of a Ghost (2005)
Phil Rickman is best known in the US for three books, 'Candlenight', 'Curfew', and 'December' all released in the early 90's. After 1994's 'December' he appeared to drop off the map. His other books are hard to find unless you mail order them. 'Smile Of A Ghost' is the latest in his series of bo...
The Remains of an Altar (2007)
In 1934, the dying composer Sir Edward Elgar feebly whistled to a friend the theme from his Cello Concerto and said, "If you're walking on the Malvern Hills and hear that, don't be frightened. It's only me." Seventy years later, Merrily Watkins—parish priest and Deliverance Consultant to the Dioc...
The Secrets of Pain (2000)
While the story and characterizations are as strong as always, I am again put off by the fractured, fragmented sentence structure of Rickman's work. I realize that this stream-of-conciousness- slang-speak narrative is probably intended to make the prose more immediate, more real. For me, all it d...