The Bones of Avalon

Religious strife, Glastonbury legends, the bones of King Arthur and the curse of the Tudors... can astrologer John Dee help the young Queen Elizabeth to avoid it?

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 - hardly the safest companion - is 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.



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



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.



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