The Fever of the World: 'Brilliantly eerie' Peter James

Description

The fifteenth instalment in the Merrily Watkins series. 'Merrily Watkins is the most singular of crime fiction protagonists... As ever [Rickman]'s supremely skillful at teasing out the menace that lies behind English folk customs and legends and weaving them into a compelling contemporary narrative.' - Mail on Sunday The River Wye, according to local folklore, takes a life every year. But in the lower Wye Valley something truly evil is stirring and the locals can sense it. TV star Arlo Ripley seeks solace in a church at the water's edge. But a famous face always attracts attention and if he thinks he can hide his failings, he couldn't be more wrong. Up river, an ambitious writer thinks she's uncovering Wordsworth's stranger secrets while an urban career-criminal, newly out of prison, assures a sceptical DI Frannie Bliss that he's left his old life behind to find an unlikely pastoral peace. Enter diocesan exorcist Merrily Watkins. As she wades into the murky depths, Merrily discovers that the darkest and most disturbing evil doesn't always involve murder...

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 Merrily Watkins series and the John Dee papers.

No one writes better of the shadow-frontier between the supernatural and the real world. * Bernard Cornwell, praise for Merrily Watkins * Ancient history, violent deaths, feuds, intrigues and murder. A most original sleuth. * The Times, praise for Merrily Watkins * Phil Rickman is one of my all-time favourites. I love everything he's done. * Diana Gabaldon, praise for Merrily Watkins * Tight with atmosphere, thick with latent violence... Brilliantly eerie. * Peter James, praise for Merrily Watkins * Compassionate, original and sharply contemporary, Rickman's crime series is one of the best around. * Spectator, praise for Merrily Watkins * Complex, absorbing, fascinating... * Andrew Taylor, praise for Merrily Watkins * Few writers blend the ancient and supernatural with the modern and criminal better than Rickman. * Guardian, praise for Merrily Watkins * Supremely skillful at teasing out the menace that lies behind English folk customs and legends and weaving them into a compelling contemporary narrative * Mail on Sunday * The layers, the characters, the humour, the spookiness - perfect. * Elly Griffiths, praise for Merrily Watkins * First rate crime with demons that go bump in the night. * Daily Mail, praise for Merrily Watkins * Classic mysteries... [which] cleverly illuminate the darkest corners of our imaginations. * John Connolly, praise for Merrily Watkins * Engrossing and beautifully dark... a cracking good read ensues. * Jo Brand, praise for Merrily Watkins *