Black poles against the pale night...like a site laid out for a mass-crucifixion.' 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.
From Publishers Weekly
Merrily Watkins, single mom and Anglican priest, faces more than one occult threat in her third chilling outing, set in northeast Herefordshire near the Welsh border, from British author Rickman (Midwinter of the Spirit; A Crown of Lights). In her role as the appointed diocesan Deliverance Minister, Merrily is looking into a family's claims that "evil" has possessed their daughter when the Bishop of Hereford asks her to intervene in a dispute over whether or not a converted hopkiln is haunted. Once used to dry the hops in beer making, the kiln was also the scene of a terrible murder. Sensible, down-to-earth Merrily, as she investigates each case, isn't totally convinced that the unnatural phenomena are genuine. However, after her attempted exorcism of the hopkiln fails, another brutal murder occurs, the possessed daughter tries to commit suicide and she begins to question her own judgment. In a search for the truth, Merrily, her daughter and her good friend, Lol Robinson, find intrigue, lies, cover-ups, danger and the unexplainable. While the unraveling of the two stories takes time, the pace is fast and plot twists await the reader around every corner right up until the very end. The rural English setting, where the past is still part of the present, and a cast of quirky yet believable characters add to the realism that makes this a most provocative read. Even skeptics of the paranormal will shudder with fear.
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Review
'A haunting quality unique in crime fiction... rich in atmosphere and practically unique' Great British Fictional Detectives, Russell James 'The paranormal investigator with a down-to-earth attitude. This is no rural paradise' Sunday Telegraph