Merrily Watkins collection 1: Midwinter of Spirit and Crown of Lights

A thrilling collection starring the intriguing Merrily Watkins - late thirties, single mum, and diocesan exorcist The Cure of Souls When the local vicar refuses to help his parishioners in the aftermath of a savage murder, 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, Merrily is drawn into a deadly tangle of deceit as she uncovers the twisted secrets of the village's past. The Lamp of the Wicked A serial killer is on the loose in the small village of Underhowle. DI Francis Bliss is convinced he knows where the bodies are buried. But Merrily wonders if Bliss isn't blinkered by personal ambition. And are the Underhowle deaths really linked to some of the most sickening killings in British history?

PHIL RICKMAN lives on the Welsh border where he writes and presents the book programme Phil the Shelf on BBC Radio Wales. He is the hugely popular author of The Bones of Avalon, The Heresy of Dr Dee and the Merrily Watkins Mysteries.