This is a very welcome re-issue of the first in Phil Rickman's Merrily Watkins series.
Here Merrily, as the new 'priest in charge' in the picturesque Herefordshire Village of Ledwardine, finds herself in the middle of a local disagreement about the possibility of using the church to stage a new play - about a previous incumbent who was accused of witchcraft - and more.
She also has to contend with a possibly haunted vicarage and problems with her teenage daughter Jane, who has Pagan tendencies and isn't at all happy about her mother's vocation.
And all this is before the killings start!
A marvellous, richly atmospheric story which will keep you enthralled right to the end. If you've never read a Merrily novel, this is the ideal place to start - but, if you have read any of the later books, do buy this one and find out how it all began.
Once you're hooked - and you will be - don't despair if you can't find the rest of the series, they are all to be republished at bi-monthly intervals.
