534 pages
English language
Published July 26, 1999 by Macmillan.
‘The red soil and the long, wooded hills… the twisted houses with old bones of blackened oak. And the apples. Why were apples so wholesome while the orchard was so oppressive?’
The new vicar had never wanted a picture-postcard parish. But appearances deceive. Ledwardine has a hidden history of abuse and murder, and Merrily Watkins might do well to heed the anonymous message that speaks of The Devil’s Minister and adds: let him lie. Be warned.
This is the novel that introduces Merrily Watkins, before the ongoing contemporary exorcism series begins with Midwinter of the Spirit.
Surprised at how much I enjoyed this, not what I'd have gone for initially - had assumed ti was another historical novel like the other one I read. Perhaps a little overpopulated with characters, but it all gets sorted in the end and pretty unpleasant stuff.
