With the framework of her own world beginning to crack, Merrily must venture into areas of mystery and menace; the secrets of the border's pagan past...



'Ancient history, violent deaths, feuds, intrigues and murder. A most original sleuth.' - The Times





'What I remember most was the sound of his breath. A hollow sound, as though he was drawing breath from somewhere else. Afterwards, he just said goodnight. I don't think he even remembered my name.'





Hereford is home to the elite warriors of the SAS. The place where their secrets are hidden . . . secrets that go well beyond pain and can wreck marriages and private lives. When Merrily Watkins loses a friend in the regiment, she's drawn into a place where no woman is welcome, to investigate profound mysteries linked to the area's brutal pagan past.



Phil Rickman was born in Lancashire and lives on the Welsh border where he writes and presents the book programme Phil the Shelf on BBC Radio Wales. He is the acclaimed author of Dr Dee, The Bones of Avalon,Midwinter Spirit (now a major ITV series), the Merrily Watkins Mysteries and the John Dee papers. Visit his website at: www.philrickman.co.uk



No-one writes better of the shadow-frontier between the supernatural and the real world.



Ancient history, violent deaths, feuds, intrigues and murder. A most original sleuth.



Phil Rickman is one of my all-time favourites. I love everything he's done.



[Rickman] is supremely skilful... a compelling contemporary narrative.



Tight with atmosphere, thick with latent violence... Brilliantly eerie.



Compassionate, original and sharply contemporary, Rickman's crime series is one of the best around.



Complex, absorbing, fascinating...



Few writers blend the ancient and supernatural with the modern and criminal better than Rickman.



The layers, the characters, the humour, the spookiness - perfect.



First rate crime with demons that go bump in the night.



Classic mysteries... [which] cleverly illuminate the darkest corners of our imaginations.



Engrossing and beautifully dark... a cracking good read ensues.