Phil Rickman - Midwinter of the Spirit

‘Holy relics, lass.’ Huw said. ‘The undying power of holy relics.’

Dark red.

‘Oh, my God,’ Merrily said. ‘His bones were supposed to have bled, weren’t they?’

‘Bit of the skull, apparently. Borrowed it from some monks. Location classified.’

‘God.’ She put out a finger.

‘Aye, go on, lass. It’s all right. You wouldn’t have got within ten yards of the bugger when he were alive, mind, but there you go. Times change.’

He let her touch the piece of bone, and then rolled it up in its cloth again and slipped it into an inside pocket of his blue canvas jacket, next to his heart.

‘Come on, then, Tommy,’ he said.

IT’s ALWAYS DIFFICULT setting a novel in real locations without appearing to implicate real people… which is why I’ve always avoided meeting the Bishop of Hereford.

However, the book would have been impossible without invaluable background information from a Hereford Deliverance minister, who prefers, like Merrily, to keep a low profile; from the Director of the Hereford Cathedral Perpetual Trust, Sue Embrey, who provided crucial information on the Cathedral and the tomb of Thomas Cantilupe and was always really helpful and encouraging; from Ron Shoesmith, the archaeologist overseeing renovation of the Canty tomb; from Richard Powell, of Capps and Capps, the mason who performed the actual renovation (without losing any bits) and from Brian Chave, who showed me Merrily’s office and Mick’s lair.

For information on Dinedor Hill and Cathedral-related hauntings, thanks to Hereford journalists Nicola Goodwin and George Children (whose excellent book, Prehistoric Sites of Herefordshire , co-written with George Nash, is published by Logaston Press).

Also thanks to Nick Whitehead, Andrew Hewson, Jill Dibbling, Penny Arnold and, of course, Pam Baker for the awful story of The Real Denzil Joy (oh, yes, there are some nurses who still have nightmares…). And Mark Owen thought it was time he got a mention, so here it is.

Finally, at the production end… thanks to my wife, Carol, who combined a massive, wide-ranging and detailed four-week professional (if unpaid) edit with some absolutely vital plot-surgery.

Lol Robinson’s songs can be found on two full-length CDs, Songs from Lucy’s Cottage and A Message from the Morning (which includes Moon’s Tune ) by Lol Robinson and Hazey Jane II, produced by Prof Levin and Allan Watson.

The Midwinter locations are included in Merrily’s Border by Phil Rickman, with photographs by John Mason. (Logaston Press)

Full details on the website www.philrickman.co.uk

PHIL RICKMANwas born in Lancashire and lives on the Welsh border. He is the author of the Merrily Watkins series, and The Bones of Avalon . He has won awards for his TV and radio journalism and writes and presents the book programme Phil the Shelf for BBC Radio Wales.

THE MERRILY WATKINS SERIES

The Wine of Angels

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

The Fabric of Sin

To Dream of the Dead

Coming soon...

The Secrets of Pain

OTHER BOOKS

The Bones of Avalon