Product Description

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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #64005 in Books
• Published on: 2008-05-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 352 pages

Review
Compassionate, original and sharply contemporary. Rickman's crime series is one of the best around - Spectator. First rate. A passionate, flawed modern woman, every bit as concerned with the intricacies of crime as with demons that go bump in the night - Daily Mail. 'I thoroughly recommend both these books - They would make a solid Christmassy read, appropriate to the season - Rickman's work has a satisfying refusal to find easy answers or to take sides in spiritual debates. The destabilizing combination of death and religion is fascinatingly observed in this series. What T.S.Eliot did for Canterbury Cathedral, Rickman does for Hereford - Shotsmag on Fabric of Sin and To Dream of the Dead.

Daily Mail
First rate. A passionate, flawed woman...as concerned with the intricacies of crime as with demons that go bump in the night

The Times
Merrily is a most original sleuth...and Rickman is an excellent writer, terrific on atmosphere...The best so far

Customer Reviews

Horror with a difference
I've read all the Merrily Watkins series and thoroughly enjoyed all of them. This one is no exception. Merrily is asked to find out what is going on when a builder announces he is giving up a lucrative contract to restore an old house for a powerful organisation. At first it seems as though there could just be someone a little unbalanced with a vivid imagination and a knowledge of M R James ghost stories at work. But a murder and apparent suicide soon makes it clear to Merrily that there is a lot more at stake. She is warned from several directions to stay away and starts to wonder if she can trust anyone including herself. Aided by her daughter Jane and lover Lol, she eventually solves at least some of the problems in Garwood, only to find that not all problems from the past can be neatly labelled and put away.
If you enjoy something a bit different from run of the mill horror or crime then try this for well rounded and interesting characters and enthralling historical background.

Seamless addition to a masterly series
A classic series - something that will live on beyond our time - is unfolding before us. Merrily Watkins may be 'only' a literary' creation of Mr Rickman's mind, but she seems more like real-life flesh and blood to me. Not only that, but Rickman (or Merrily...) is dealing with 'big issues' here: theology, philosophy, the nature of human interaction with this imperfect world - all included organically within an fantastic story. In short, I unreservedly recommended this book - and all its suberb predecessors.

Thrilling reading!!
If you like to held on the end of every page, learn something that you hadn't realised before about everyday things (the Prince of Wales, the Welsh Border),feel empathy and concern for characters who are 'realer' than your average crime or thriller novel then Rickman is for you!!
This new Merrily Watkins book captures all the excitement and mystery of the other novels (read them!) and takes the characters you end up loving on a new journey into themselevs and the mysteries of the countryside and the people who live there. It seems to develop seamlessly, with a building atmosphere of suspense and danger, into a gripping and intriguing ending. Brilliant!!! Write some more Mr Rickman!!