All of a Winter's Night

Merrily Watkins #14

by Phil Rickman

It begins in the fog, with a bleak village funeral. In the early hours of the following morning, Merrily Watkins and her daughter Jane are made aware that Aidan Lloyd, son of a wealthy farmer, will not be resting in peace. A rural tradition is displaying its sinister side as an old feud re-ignites. It's already a fraught time for Merrily, her future threatened by a bishop committed to restricting her role as deliverance consultant, or diocesan exorcist. Suddenly there are events she can't talk about as she and Jane find themselves potentially on the wrong side of the law. Meanwhile, DI Frannie Bliss, investigating a shooting, must confront the growth in the city of Hereford of organized crime which is also contaminating the countryside. On the Welsh border, the old ways are at war with the modern world. As the days shorten and the fog gives way to ice and snow, Merrily Watkins is drawn into a conflict centered, it seems, on one of Britain's most famous medieval churches, its walls laden with ancient symbolism.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Paranormal, Fantasy, British Literature, Horror

384 pages, Hardcover

First published January 5, 2017

About the author

Phil Rickman, also known under the pen names Thom Madley and Will Kingdom, was a British author of supernatural and mystery novels.

Reviews

[Paromjit · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the latest in one of my favourite series featuring deliverance vicar, Merrily Watkins. Rickman excels in writing atmospheric, complex and multilayered stories shot through with a strong element of the supernatural. It is always a pleasure to be reaquainted by what, by now, are dear and familiar characters like Lol, Gomer, Huw and Sophie in Lewardine and Hereford. Merrily is concerned about the perfunctory funeral for Aidan Lloyd, a local farmer, who died in a traffic accident. Her concerns multiply when she and Jane become aware of strange practices by some hard to make out figures at Aidan's grave in the middle of a foggy night. This story looks at family dysfunction, cut throat church politics, paganism, Welsh border Morris Dancing steeped in ancient traditions, age old feuds, corruption, murder, betrayal and greed.

Merrily is feeling vulnerable as the new broom, Bishop Craig Innes, is looking to distance the church from its deliverance section and targets Merrily through covert investigations by Paul Crowden. Lol is feeling under financial pressures as his hopes for his work are dashed. Jane is facing a personal crisis which she is struggling to address. Gomer, Lol and Jane have a dark shadow over them as they break the law to discover what happened to Aidan's grave. There is much more to Aidan than first suspected, including him being the Man of Leaves. The trail leads to a group engaging in odd Morris dancing rituals in Kilpeck headed by Sir Lionel Darvill. DI Frannie Bliss is looking into the shooting of a Polish car dealer and criminal, Wictor Jaglowski, farm burglaries, burnings, murders and the growing concern as to whether Aidan's death was an accident. Annie Howe's corrupt father, Charlie Howe, has ambitions to be the elected Police Commissioner and is engineering events to ensure he wins but what is his involvement in the Jaglowski case? As Merrily endeavours to honour a recently murdered rector and attempt to heal an old feud, matters get out of hand.

This is a story with disparate storylines that eventually connect together beautifully. I love the down to earth character of Merrily juxtaposed with the fantastical elements. It is well written, impeccably plotted, thoroughly researched and has a strong sense of location, with the traditions and belief systems that accompany that locale. There is a apt quote which resonates about the world today when Lionel Darvill says 'The human race has shrunk. Only have to look at the appalling dregs of humanity posing as politicians'. Loved reading this, and looking forward to the next one.

[hawk · Rating 4 out of 5]

tired, I was drawn to another Merrily Watkins book for the familiar cast and ease of listening... and to (hopefully) be gently engaged by the the latest twist and turn of life (and death!) in the fictional Welsh-English border village of Ledwardine, and within the local Christian and Pagan spiritual realms... 🙂


🌳🍃🍂🌲🍁🌲🍂🍃🌳


I found this novel in the series one of the most interesting, and least annoying, I've read so far 😃

I liked the exploration/excavation of border Morris dancing 😃 and Morris dancing conceptualised as the movement of energy... and as embodying the green man...

and I really enjoyed the inclusion of the game of Nine Man's Morris! 😁 and the tentative links made between this and the Morris dance... and the significance of the number 9 in different traditions... 🙂

I enjoyed the green man, aka the man of leaves, being a recurring, and quite central, figure in this novel... and enjoyed the inclusion of abit about his (speculated) history...

"...she got fascinated by the foliate face" 🌿💚🌿

the novel contained quite alot about dancing as a path to/expression of the divine... including (alongside the focus on Morris dancing) a brief discussion of the Gurdjieff school/tradition, Sufism, and Pagan-Sufi-Islamic-Christian overlaps... all of which I enjoyed 🙂

there were even several Tarot references 😉🙂

I'm aware this could start to sound like the author maybe threw in abit of everything/anything he could think of... but to my reading, the different themes and threads he's twined together work together well - the focus on energy, archetypes, progression thru a story/sequence/dance, forging a path to the divine... 🌟♥🌟


🌳🍃🍂🌲🍁🌲🍂🍃🌳


I always enjoy the Christian-Pagan blurry edge, and local folklore and history, in these novels 🙂

I notice I increasingly quite like the commentary on some of the issues faced by a rural village and it's inhabitants, especially the issue of gentrification...

and I've come to appreciate the continuing development of characters over the years, especially that of Jane, moving thru teenage now into early adulthood...

I liked that in this novel there's a bit of storyline touching on potential bisexuality... tho if only the author had thought of that/been clearer about that, rather than the character trying to figure out if they are gay or straight 🙄 but I think it's actually fairly sensitively, if only minimally (and maybe stereotypically), explored.

I'm sometimes curious about how much truth there is to some of the stories and/or bits of news referenced - how much is the authors imagination, and/or whether some are drawn from bits of news/history? 🤔

the use of, and quips about, a disabled character were grating 😬 the character was positioned as aggressive and controlling as an overcompensation for his situation/position as a disabled person 😬🙄😬 I thought this was very one dimensional and lazy. I think I found it more annoying than the usual (and perhaps slightly less) sexism in this novel! 😉

wrt enjoying this novel more than any of the others I've read, maybe it helps that I read this one around the right time of year ish, albeit a couple months late but still in the midst of the winter (in the novel the year is heading towards St Lucy's day, and then Winter Solstice...) 🌲🕯🌲
perhaps also having the context of the previous novels I've read in the series (not in any order - tho that would have been good - just how they are available at the libraries) increased my enjoyment of this novel 🤔
and this was book 15 in the series, so the author has also had a long time to develop the characters and themes... and his writing! 😉
it's also possible I've learned to overlook some of the more annoying stereotypes and things... and the repetition here and there...🙃


💀☠🕯⛪️🕯☠💀


I'm not sure if it was just me, or if the ending/close of the book was rushed 🤔

I think I was enjoying/so focussed on the Morris storyline ambling along (with purpose) towards its climax (and resolution?), that I didn't expect the pretty hideous climax to another long brooding storyline! 😯😬😱😬

and shortly after that the novel ended unexpectedly - which felt like a bit of an anticlimax! 😆

there were also a fair few plot lines left very unfinished (unless they were only there to tease, and never intended to be finished...) 🤔


💀☠🕯⛪️🕯☠💀


accessed as a library audiobook, well read by Emma Powell 🙂

[David Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even if I wasn't married to a Church of England vicar and living in a country village, I'd still be obsessively keen on these adventures of Merrily Watkins, diocesan deliverance advisor and keeper of secrets. As I am, I love sifting over the ecclesiastical politics and spotting what's plausible and what's less so (it's fiction - of course it embroiders in places!)

I also love the writing, of course, and in this latest instalment, Rickman is on cracking form, with Gomer Parry back (fans will rejoice) and a juicy mystery that occupies not only Merrily, Jane and Lol but also Frannie Bliss and Annie Howe. The fun, as ever, is seeing how the apparently separate events unfold and join up - and how close Merrily comes to ruin and disaster in the process.

I felt that the balance between the two aspects was better here than in Friends of the Dusk, with Merrily playing more of a part and dealing with some real spiritual issues, although these were less of the classically horrifying Exorcist style and more knotty pastoral problems with a potential spiritual - supernatural - dimension. Indeed, her biggest problem here is arguable the presence of an interfering rationalist priest with his own agenda. The interplay between Merrily's concerns, Lol's career worries and Jane's personal life is as ever very well done - Rickman creates characters you'd just love to pop down the the pub for a drink with, at the same time as portraying an utterly modern England beset by employment, housing and development concerns.

The atmosphere is also well done, making use of all those nighttime, befogged trips between Ledwardine, Hereford and various remote rural churches. Rickman has a knack, fully exploited here, of writing place as character, picking up on all those subtle cues that make somewhere seem right... or not...

And speaking of remote churches, it's when one of those crops up that the story becomes positively numinous. Rickman's ability for conjuring meaning and story from the carvings or ambience of the silent building is second to none. (And, yes, I used the word "conjure" deliberately...) This author knows how to tread the fine line between reality and fantasy. We are never told for sure exactly how far the supernatural is real here, only the different perceptions of Merrily, Lol and Jane - and their rationalisations. Yet their reactions are enough to distinguish these books from mundane crime fiction, or event, say, from something like Chesterton's Father Brown mysteries where we're tantalised by a suggestion of the supernatural which is always then explained away.

Rickman is also I think unusual in understanding and in sympathising with Christian, Pagan and (as we see here) other spiritual outlooks, appreciating where they may reinforce and where they may contradict. His writing is a long way from setting up simplistic oppositions - except, perhaps, where it comes to Annie Howe whose disdain for "superstition" is intact as ever. But, as we know (but Merrily doesn't!) Annie has her own contradictions and secrets.

So - excellent, taut, intelligent detective fiction with just a bit of a twist, nice midwinter spookiness and time spent with some characters I've come to know and love. A good start to 2017!

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another thoroughly enjoyable Merrily Watkins novel by Phil Rickman. He is so effective at creating a sense of time and place in his novels. One can almost feel the damp cold of the fog and the icy bite of the Herefordshire wind: “ The sense of border was pervasive here, hard country stalking soft under the darkening frown of the Black Mountains”. In this story all the favourites are back: Merrily, Lol, Jane, Gomer, Sophie and Frannie Bliss. Happy to see Merrily and Lol actually spending more time together than apart in this one. The story starts with Merrily’s guilt at providing an underwhelming funeral for a young farmer who lost his life after being hit by a car. She feels unsatisfied with how little she knew about Aiden Lloyd and how little she provided in his service and then when odd things start happening around his gravesite she becomes involved in a situation more serious and dangerous than anticipated. Couple this with the case of a murdered car dealer that Frannie is working on and more violent events that follow, and you’ve got a great storyline where these two seemingly unrelated situations intertwine to a suitably satisfying and chillingly compelling mystery. Can’t wait for the next one.

[Jamie Collins · Rating 3 out of 5]

I saved this for Halloween. I really love this spooky, atmospheric series, and this one starts out with a nicely creepy scene with mysterious intruders at night in the graveyard behind the vicarage.

I lost interest in the actual mystery about halfway through, however, and I’m beginning to tire of yet more plots to get rid of Merrily and Deliverance. I was beginning to be rather disappointed in the book, but towards the end there were some satisfying developments with the characters which redeemed it. (I could stand for a little more progress in Merrily and Lol's relationship.) Rarely do I exclaim aloud over fiction as I did about a certain unexpected death.

I’m generally not much of a believer in the Good Old Days, and I have to brace myself against this series’s constant refrain of doom and despair over modern society.

I’m deeply attached to these characters and I love Rickman’s writing style. Looking forward to the next book.

[Damaskcat · Rating 5 out of 5]

A new Merrily Watkins is always something to look forward to and I definitely wasn't disappointed with this one. Merrily herself is threatened by the new broom of the new bishop of Hereford who believes that deliverance doesn't have any place in the modern Church of England. DI Frannie Bliss is worried that organised crime has come to the country when a Polish immigrant is shot dead at his garage.

The death of Aidan Lloyd - a famer's son in Ledwardine - is followed by what Merrily regards as an unsatisfactory funeral and she and daughter Jane awake in the night following to the funeral to see spectral figures and lights in the churchyard around the grave. Should they investigate or call the police? It is soon clear that this death and its aftermath have triggered a clash between the old ways and the new world of crime bringing Merrily and Bliss together again to investigate some very strange and frightening goings on.

I found myself totally absorbed in this many layered novel in which crime mixes with paganism, religion, the supernatural, church politics and the perennial clash between country ways and progress. Well written and impeccably researched this is a marvellous novel in which believable and likeable characters mix with some real villains who will stop at nothing to achieve their own ends. The author really brings this border region to life and I'm sure if I visited Hereford Cathedral now I would be looking out for Merrily and her friends and colleagues.

This is an excellent atmospheric novel with more than a hint of the supernatural and it lingers long after you have read the last page. As with previous new books in this series I have been prompted to go back to the beginning - The Wine of Angels - and read them all again.

[Kizzia · Rating 5 out of 5]

The latest “adventure” of Merrily Watkins does not disappoint as Phil Rickman again skilfully weaves folklore, religion, and police work together to produce a crime thriller with an otherworldly element that is left as nebulous as these things often are in real life, although it ends with us knowing the who, how and why of the crime. Alongside the self-contained mystery plot of the book we get the continual unspooling of the lives of Merrily, Jane, Lol, Frannie, Ann and Eirion, all of whom have a special place in my heart. Sadly there’s not much of Gomer or Huw in this story but there’s enough there to tell me that they’ll probably have a bigger role in the next book. Phil doesn’t shy away from the real life problems all his characters face but he handles every new twist, turn and block in the road - all of which are driven by the characters, setting and real life politics of the Welsh Borders that feels right for both the fictional village of Ledwardine and that world as I know it – with sensitivity and care that leave you, at the final page, feeling hopeful and content, yet eagerly anticipating the next instalment.

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Merrily's back and there are Morris dancers. What is not to like!?

[Stephen Hayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I suppose one could sum it up by saying this this book is to morris dancing what The nine tailors by Dorothy Sayers is to church bell ringing.

I looked at this book very carefully before buying it, to make sure that it was not Midwinter of the spirit sneakily published under a different title, since they have republished old Phil Rickman books under new titles before, as a trap for the unwary.

It turned out, however, that I had not read this one before.

Phil Rickman's early books were of the fantasy/horror genre, but he seems to have been moving in his more recent ones more towards the crime and detective genre. In this one, however, he seems to have been trying to give equal prominence, switching scenes between the Revd Merrily Watkins, Church of England Vicar of Ledwardine in Herefordshire, who is also the diocesan exorsist, but with the updated and rather twee title of "deliverance consultant", and Hereford detectives Annie Howe and Francis Bliss who do their detecting while trying to keep their affair secret from their colleagues.

It's a while since I've seen a new Phil Rickman book -- as I noted, the last one turned out to be a false alarm, mutton dressed as lamb. Perhaps I have rosy memories of his style, or perhaps his writing style has changed, but I found this one stylistically disappointing. I don't know whether is writing style has got worse, or whether I have just become more critical.

One of the problems is that he has sudden changes of scene, but the characters are only indicated by pronouns. So you have "he said" and "she said", but only halfway through the paragraph do you realise that the he and she are not the same people who were in the previous paragraph, and go back to the beginning and read it with different characters in mind.

In the first few chapters, in Particular, it looks as though Rickman has been reading the elementary text books on fiction writing that give advice to wannabe writers -- especially the advice to end every chapter with a cliffhanger. The problem is that for the first 15 chapters or so the build up to the cliffhanger falls flat in the next chapter, so that every chapter begins with an anticlimax. This becomes tiresome after a while. So one learns that people have been terrible things in a churchyard. It turns out to have been morris dancing.

I first learnt about morris dancing from the comic strip The Perishers, which appeared in the Daily Mirror back in the 1960s. The role of the morris men in the comic strip was never terribly clear, but they struck me as nostalgic old gits who were trying to keep alive imagined traditions of a Merrie England that had never existed. Twenty years later I saw them performing in real life in a series of church fetes in Pretoria, the ind of events announced on their posters as a "Fayre". I once made a video juxtaposing them with a group of Pedi women doing a folk dance in what is now Limpopo province, but was then called the Northern Transvaal. Two folk traditions, one local, the other imported.

Rickman tried to introduce morris dancing as though it was uncanny, spooky and scary, but in my experience, however, it was just quaint and nostalgic, and morris men no more sinister than people who liked going around ringing church bells.

As the book goes on it gets better, at least as far as the plot is concerned, and I don't think it would be too much of a spoiler to say that ultimately the villain turns out to be capitalism, especially as exemplified by property developers. In that it doesn't differ much from some of the other more recent Phil Rickman books.

[Plum-crazy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another really good read in the atmospheric & spooky Merrily Watkins series. I'm a sucker for stories that weave folk lore, customs & legends into them - with the Green Man being especially a favourite of mine - & this instalment sees the appearance of some Morris men....but these aren't the red-cheeked cheery dancers you'd normally see on the village green, oh no. These appear to be quite sinister, with secrets hidden within their ancient dances - but from this series I'd expect nothing less! ;o)

Merrily, meanwhile is still hanging onto her Deliverance role - although by the skin of her teeth it would seem! I must admit that I did struggle a bit trying to follow the Deliverance politics/issues/shenanigans & trying to the recall the characters & getting their histories straight. To be fair, that's probably my own fault for leaving it 4 years between books! (note to self: get a copy of "For the Hell of It" ASAP)

Overall a great read & I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the menacing Morris men. While I'd highly recommend this series, this isn't the place to start. It's a series best read in order to my mind so start at book 1 "The Wine of Angels"....& then you'll have a further 12 great books to look forward to before you get to this!

[Bryan Wigmore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Above-average addition to the series, with some interesting stuff about border morris and the green man symbol, and all tied neatly up at the end. Downsides: the villain was pretty invisible until everyone got suspicious of him at the same time for no reason I could see (though I might have missed something), and a long-term character was offed in a way that seemed rather perfunctory, though maybe that was just because it came too late for the real consequences to be played out in this book, and we'll see them in future episodes. I got rather annoyed with the crude way Rickman manipulates tension, hiding from the reader things the viewpoint character knows perfectly well ("He opened the box and what he saw made his blood run cold" / chapter end), but that's a minor gripe.

[Jennie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the return to Merrily as a main character - I've felt like she's been a bit marginalized for the past few books.

Bliss and Howe's plot - and its connection to Merrily - felt forced. Maybe Rickman should give them their own starring roles in a new series instead of trying to find ways to force everyone to interact in evey novel.

Aside from the jarring shifts between Merrily/Jane/Lol and Bliss/Howe, I mostly enjoyed this (especially when Rickman discusses things that are actually real and I end up falling down a Google rabbit hole looking for more information) until the last 100 pages or so, when the coincidences taxed my suspension of disbelief beyond what I was able to pay, unfortunately.

I'm also ready for Jane to outgrow the word 'like.'

[Jo Hurst · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phil Rickman at his best. This is an excellent series and this latest instalment will remain a favourite in the series despite its slightly disappointing ending. Aiden Lloyd’s funeral was a cold unhappy affair, and without much info from the family Merrily feels she has given short shrift, something as a deliverance consultant she should never do. Following a strange and disturbing night in the churchyard Merrily discovers there was more to Aiden Lloyd then she first thought and soon his death looks linked to another that Frannie Bliss is investigating. Gripping stuff which will make you look at Morris dancing in a new light. All of a winters night is not only a great title it’s a great book. I am just disappointed that I have to wait so long for the next one!

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read many of the Merrily Watkins books and enjoyed them but this is perhaps the best from the strength of the writing and the unusual plot. Unusual because I have danced the morris for decades and this was a fascinating spin on what it means. The postscript explains the author’s sources which are not, sad to say, up to date as the mystical rationale for the morris dance that this plot hinges on has been pretty well debunked by modern scholars ... but so what, it makes the story work. Excellent read for a cold wonter’s night by the fire (just don’t believe all that you read). ;)

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is always a delight to return to the world of Merrily Watkins. I have been a fan of this series from the beginning and have enjoyed every one.

Merrily, the diocese Deliverance minister (formerly called an exorcist) is facing problems from the current Bishop who seems bent on marginalising her. One winter's night she is awoken by Jane, her daughter, who hears someone in the churchyard. Their investigation is cut short when Jane sprains her ankle. It seems the noise has come from around the grave of Aiden Lloyd- a recently deceased young man whose funeral left Merrily feeling she had not done all she might to lay him to rest.

What was the story of Aiden? Was he stoned when he dies in an accident? Was it even an accident? What connections did he have to the Kilpeck Morris Men- a strange group who seem only to dance for themselves?

With all the characters I've come to love this was a great read & as always leaves me longing for the next one!

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another really good read in this series. Merrily is under pressure from the powers that be who may want her out of the Deliverance job.
Jane, bless her, really doesn't know what she wants. She's confused about a lot of things.
Frannie Bliss and Annie Howe are still keeping their relationship secret and are still having problems with Annie's corrupt father.
To all this add murder and Morris dancing, a certain someone getting their comeuppance and the return of Eirion and you have a darn good story.

[Alison S ☯️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the perfect book to read in December, as the plot culminates with a special midwinter St. Lucy's Day service. As well as introducing some believable new characters, I felt like there were some interesting developments for quite a few existing characters. As with the last few books, the ending seemed a little rushed and confusing, but I loved the folklore elements: I learned about the existence of the Border Morris Dance, and now want to visit Kilpeck Church. Sad I now have to wait for the next instalment to be published.

[Lesley Williamson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really good and quite creepy in an old Gothic way. The information about Morris dancing and its history was fascinating. Who knew there was so much to it? Certainly not me! The use of it in the plot was really well done and Jane and Lol really came into their own in this novel.
The way the old 'otherness' remains a part of the modern world was absolutely believable and in this novel it was an important part of the narrative.
The police side of the story with Bliss and the others was really good and there were shocks here too . I love the way that Phil Rickman melds the old and the current .
A great read but not really bedtime reading if you don't want bad dreams.

[Marcus Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The final (to date) in the Merrily Watkins series, and in my opinion the best one. Phil Rickman is on top form here, crafring a story from the menace that lies behind English folk customs and legends, featuring morris men and the green man. It is a fantastic story with some great twists along the way.

[Tom Waters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let's Dance

I live in Broadstairs each year a Folk Festival is held next year I will be watching the Morris Dancers a lot more than I have before after reading th I wonderful book I have read all in this series and they all rate five sterss

[Mike Clarke · Rating 3 out of 5]

“And I’d have gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for those meddling kids!” I like the Merrily Watkins series for the same reason I liked Scooby Doo - Where Are You? as a small child: you know what you’re getting and that it’ll be exciting. That it was largely the same story week after week (ghost turns out to be property developer/tin miner/rival amusement park owner dressing up to scare away customers or buyers and drive down the price of something so he can make a killing) was neither here nor there. It was thrills and spills and laughs in black and white.

And so to Phil Rickman who’s been producing this series about Hereford’s diocesan exorcist, or ‘deliverance minister’ as the modern church prefers it, for over 20 years now. Geraldine Granger she ain’t, despite the modern trappings - vape stick, pagan daughter, doubt. The lush, loamy and folklore-rich Herefordshire landscape provides a faintly menacing backdrop to tales of pagan ritual, slaughter and old beliefs that’s never quite anachronistic - there is usually a timeless reason behind the goings on: power, money, sex or the kind of petty and slightly wearisome corruption that’s rife in many an English backwater. This one’s about morris dancing, an oft-ridiculed throwback to nature-as-religion belief systems, but in this case black morris, its darker and more violent branch.

Rickman writes briskly and economically, keeping the pace, reacquainting you with familiar characters from previous episodes and introducing new ones - most of whom don’t survive the book. Herefordshire must rival Midsomer for its sleepy rural village murder rate. He weaves in ancient and modern, a house that shouldn’t be where it is, and a church that’s not where it should be (Kilpeck, actually, with its astonishing Norman carvings - worth a visit, especially at sundown) and there are genuine thrills - the churchyard disinterment, the gruesome fate that befalls a meddling rector, or what happens when a farmer completely loses it and turns his crop sprayer on churchgoers. Oh, and thank you for introducing me to John Donne’s Lucy’s Night - “at the midnight of the year.”

Not one for new readers to start here, but a solid continuation of a by-now-venerable series. OK, where are those Scooby snacks?

[Blue50p · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spoiled by some silly punctuation errors and the spelling of names changing

[Andrea Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent as usual :) Like meeting old friends again.

[Kerry Hennigan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s the second time I’ve read this book, and I’m still not sure I know who did what to whom, or why. I love Phil Rickman’s Merrily Watkins novels, and pre-order them as soon as advertised, but this one confounds me in terms of the crime(s) aspect.

However, the more ethereal parts, about the Border morris dance, and the enigmatic Kilpeck Church, was totally fascinating.

Jane Watkins, Merrily’s daughter, with her pagan theology and archaeological aspirations, is probably my favourite character in the series, and her storyline is the one I most enjoy following, albeit it’s a side track off the main narrative.

All of a Winter’s Night has all the atmosphere the Merrily Watkins novels famous for – it's just this time I found myself confused by the strands of the story that took too long to entwine, and Rickman’s trademark clipped narrative left me wondering just who it was that did the deed, or had it done to him.

Nevertheless, I await Merrily’s next adventure with my usual impatience!

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have enjoyed Phil Rickman's books for a long time. All of a Winter's Night is not my fav. He does tend to jump from one story to the next..but always with some tie in you can understand. This just bounced back and forth and was hard to keep up with.
Merrily Watkins is a vicar in Ledwardine who is also in the deliverance ministry (exorcist). Her daughter Jane is between faith and pagan.
A young man is killed, the funeral pitiful and doesn't "sit" well with Merrily Watkins, then come the morris dancers one scary night...what follows has the potential to be good, but doesn't make it. Story is based on towns near the Welsh border.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit of a disappointment.

A great opening, followed by a slow slide into a disappointing anti climax.
The story had all the ingredients for a classic tale of rural strangeness, which Mr Rickman normally excels in. Unfortunately, it was a case of using nothing but top quality ingredients, following a classic recipe and coming up with a plate of scrambled eggs; perfectly edible but a lot less than expected.
The ingredients of a sinister group of Morris Men, ancient churches festooned with faces of The Greenman, strange happenings in midnight graveyards should all have added up to more than scrambled eggs.

[A · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love this series for so many reasons - well written, I love the characters, I live not far from the area so know so many of the places mentioned. However, for me, this story wasn’t up to the usual standard. As usual there were lots of different threads to set the scene but I felt they went on for too long and appeared to have no bearing on the plot. Of course when you got to the final few chapters they made sense! Rickman always likes to keep you guessing but for me it was just a bit overcomplicated. Still a good book though.

[Sherry Mackay · Rating 2 out of 5]

To be honest I did not finish this book. It was like wading through treacle. I guess it does not help coming in at book 14 of the series! I did not have a clue what was going on. I didn't know who anyone was or what anyone did or what the hell was happening. Cryptic to the max. And a fair few unfinished sentences which didn't help me in my quest to know what this was about. Start at book 1 perhaps if you are the least bit interested but I am not:)

[Mark Hobson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another excellent story with all of our favourite characters from the series - Merrily, Jane, Lol, Gomer, Frannie etc. A great addition and well written with some excellent dialogue. But there were quite a few proofing issues, which is surprising from a big publishing house. Over 2 dozen errors, mostly missing speech marks, which can make things confusing when trying to work out where dialogue begins and ends. So 3 stars from me.

[Rachel Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

In typical style of the Merrily Watkins series - a great build up during the story so you cannot wait to get to the end and read the outcome. The character development is very good throughout the series. Will always pick up and read this again.