The Prayer of the Night Shepherd

A crumbling hotel on the border of England and Wales. A suggestion of inherited evil, a strange love affair... and the long-disputed origins of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles. Young Jane Watkins is fascinated, but her mother, Merrily, Diocesan Exorcist, can soon see the sinister side. Especially when blood appears in the fresh snow.



The Smile of a Ghost

In the affluent, historic town of Ludlow, a teenage boy dies in a fall from the castle ruins. Accident or suicide? And why does the boy's uncle turn to exoricist Merrily Watkins? Merrily must work fast as the death toll rises, but there is a dangerous obsession lurking in these shadowed medieval streets.



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.



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



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



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



Phil Rickman is one of my all-time favourites. I love everything he's done, from horror to mystery to supernatural thriller - often all in the same book.