The Magus of Hay

Merrily Watkins, Book 12

By: Phil Rickman

Narrated by: Emma Powell

A man's body is found below a waterfall. It looks like suicide or an accidental drowning – until DI Frannie Bliss enters the dead man's home. What he finds there has him consulting Merrily Watkins, the Diocese of Hereford's official advisor on the paranormal.

It's nearly 40 years since the town of Hay-on-Wye was declared an independent state by its self-styled king. A development seen at the time as a joke. But the pastiche had a serious side. And behind it, unknown to most of the townsfolk, lay a darker design, a hidden history of murder and ritual magic, the relics of which are only now becoming visible.

It's a situation that will take Merrily Watkins – on her own for the first time in years and facing public humiliation over a separate case – to the edge of madness.

©2013 Phil Rickman (P)2014 Isis Audio

Critic reviews

"Ancient history, violent deaths, feuds, intrigues and murder. A most original sleuth." (The Times)

"First rate crime with demons that go bump in the night." (Daily Mail)

"Compassionate, original and sharply contemporary, Rickman's crime series is one of the best around." (The Spectator)