To Dream of the Dead by Phil Rickman
December, and the river is rising. The village of Ledwardine has never been flooded in living memory. Within days it will be an island. There's no electricity. The church is serving as a temporary mortuary for two people who drowned. Only one man feels safer. An aggressively-atheist author has been moved, for his own safety, Rushdie-style, into a secluded house just outside the village. Fundamentalist Christians have hated him for years. Now he's offended the Muslims. Bad move. Meanwhile, archaeologists, assisted by Merrily's teenage daughter, Jane, are at work in Coleman's Meadow, unearthing an ancient row of standing stones which some people would rather stay buried. The atheist's temporary home is close to the site. And his young wife is becoming conspicuously agitated. Is it the fear of discovery - or the kind of fear that she, of all people, could never disclose? One thing is clear: the last person who's going to be welcome in that house is an exorcist. With the flood water washing up Church Lane towards the vicarage and the shop running out of cigarettes it looks like a cold and complex Christmas for Merrily Watkins in an ancient community forced to untangle its own history against the swirling uncertainty of the future.
Phil Rickman manages to neatly reconcile the various strands of the plot to provide a satisfying dramatic conclusion, and characterization and dialogue are sharp and witty; the author provides a neat satire on village life in the 'new Cotswolds' - EuroCrimeco.uk. * EuroCrime.co.uk *
I thoroughly recommend both these books …. They would make a solid Christmassy read, appropriate to the season … Rickman's work has a satisfying refusal to find easy answers or to take sides in spiritual debates. The destabilizing combination of death and religion is fascinatingly observed in this series. What T.S.Eliot did for Canterbury Cathedral, Rickman does for Hereford - Shotsmag on Fabric of Sin and To Dream of the Dead. * Shotsmag *
Merrily is a most original sleuth and an interesting, sparky woman of emotional and spiritual depth. Rickman is an excellent writer, terrific on atmosphere…The best so far - The Times * The Times *
I thoroughly recommend both these books …. They would make a solid Christmassy read, appropriate to the season … Rickman's work has a satisfying refusal to find easy answers or to take sides in spiritual debates. The destabilizing combination of death and religion is fascinatingly observed in this series. What T.S.Eliot did for Canterbury Cathedral, Rickman does for Hereford - Shotsmag on Fabric of Sin and To Dream of the Dead. * Shotsmag *
Merrily is a most original sleuth and an interesting, sparky woman of emotional and spiritual depth. Rickman is an excellent writer, terrific on atmosphere…The best so far - The Times * The Times *
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 author of nine other Merrily Watkins' Mysteries, introducing the Reverend in The Wine of Angels, and charting her career as the diocesan exorcist with Midwinter of the Spirit, A Crown of Lights, The Cure of Souls, The Lamp of the Wicked, The Prayer of the Night Shepherd, The Smile of a Ghost, The Remains of an Altar and The Fabric of Sin.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781847245786 |
| ISBN 10 | 1847245781 |
| Title | To Dream of the Dead |
| Author | Phil Rickman |
| Series | Merrily Watkins Series |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Quercus Publishing |
| Year published | 2008-10-02 |
| Number of pages | 528 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |