As Merrily struggles to find her feet in the parish (and the conservative parishioners adjust to a woman priest) there is scandal, political shenanigans and a definite sense of unease. For there seems to be something going on in the vicarage and the Apple Tree Man seems to be on the rise.... I do think this novel did have some interesting and sound content, and enough to hold my interest to find out more (even if not about the murderer 😆).

Where next for Merrily: she is cut adrift and vulnerable. She is clinging by a thread, but sometimes that is enough. Perhaps the woman needs a glimpse of good fortune. How much lower can she be taken? I was reading this at the same time as I was reading another Pippa McCathie novel (murder mystery with a Welsh setting). it was interesting thinking about the two novels against/alongside each other. the writing of this novel seemed 'better' and abit more something (in a good way). in some ways, it's abit like the author kinda sneaks alot of things in 'under the radar'/through comments characters make... or maybe he's not aware of his own biases?!? 🙃 And when he died in an accident, he left a daughter behind. A single mother, Watkins, who was also a priest, thought she would find solace in Ledwardine. Determined to steer clear of the lights and sounds of life in the big city, Ledwardine promised Watkins a peaceful and quiet existence. These novels have been commended for perfectly walking that fine line between the mystery suspense and supernatural horror genres, with some of the best books in the series including:But Watkins’ arrival coincided with the manifestation of a local dispute. A family was hell-bent on reviving an ancient festival, one that had attracted fervent support and opposition. The series focuses primarily on Merilly, she focuses on actual demons and her own personal demons. Trying to bring up her 16 year old daughter single handedly after the death of her husband who'd been having an affair. The Police call in Merilly to help with a Satantic killing and a world of nasties is opened up.

it felt like the objectification and sexual violence/threat of violence towards women (including girls), and the more general peril they face in the novel, was there as titillation, at the same time as about setting up dynamics and story. it does maybe create an ongoing sense of menace... but that menace is generally that some young woman is about to be raped and murdered 😬 I think there's ways to write this kinda stuff that DOESN'T become it (and this was not that). the novel contains ALOT of sexual objectification of women, of Merrily esp overtly. while this is positioned as creepy, it was also abit creepy in itself and I felt plays right into that kinda shit 😕😬 Apart from the discomfort Merrily feels about her new home, she also finds herself immediately thrown into a local dispute. Newcomers, the Cassidy’s, want to reinstate an ancient village festival and revive the local cider industry. The planned festival includes a proposed play about a Seventeenth Century clergyman who was accused of witchcraft and it has invoked local passions; both for and against. Walton, James (26 September 2015). "ITV's Midwinter of the Spirit is a satisfying example of Middle-England Gothic". The Spectator . Retrieved 3 October 2019. Phil managed to do this when he wrote a documentary “Aliens” which he produced for Radio Wales and British Broadcasting Radio 4. The documentary was about the rise of English people who were moving to Wales because of the draw of cheap land in Wales, but the new residents did not receive warm welcome from the Wales native. This documentary went on to win him the Wales Current Event Affair Reporter of the Year award in 1987.

Publication Order of John Dee Papers Books

A confrontation with Roddy, who is there at night apparently removing the tank himself, soon escalates into a murder enquiry. And the book starts to take a different turn, first with Roddy's seeming madness and 'confession' of being a mass murderer, and then with the effect of electrical energy on human health, for Roddy's village is surrounded by electricity pilons and his home is right next to one. Finally, the dominant theme of the second part of the book takes over where the real life serial killers, Fred (now deceased) and Rosemary West, become an integral part of the story. The story begins with the discovery of an ancient skeleton buried on unconsecrated ground, the skull of which is stolen. However, it's not this 'deviant burial' that Anglican vicar and deliverance minister (or exorcist) Merrily is looking into, but the apparent haunting of a old, isolated property occupied by a builder who specialises in the renovation of listed buildings and his Muslim daughter and son-in-law. Meanwhile, DI Francis Bliss is investigating the brutal murder of a young archaeologist. Needless to say, Merrily and Bliss soon cross paths - but are their cases really linked, and if so, how? I was attracted to the book by the description that it had elements of the supernatural. What little supernatural there was was too subtle for me (a few dreams). So, if you are not into the supernatural, this book may be for you.