Although this book moved a bit slower than I would like from time to time, it's still an excellent blend of characterization, plot, and atmosphere. I would imagine many people who pick up one of Rickman's Merrily Watkins novels might put it right back on the shelf when they read words like "supernatural," "exorcist," or "horror." To each his own, but I would love to suggest to these folks that they might want to give his books a try.

The connotations that swirl around the words that I mentioned have more to do with the passage of centuries and the shifting focus of human belief systems. Rickman's books have everything to do with buried secrets that have been allowed to fester and taint those who would hide this information than they have to do with specters and things that go bump in the night. His plots are built solidly upon the rock of human frailty, and the hints of the supernatural serve as wisps of fog touching the corners of your vision and making the hairs on the back of your neck rise. The friction between Christianity and paganism was extremely well done here, and I had no clue what was really going on until the reveal.

A good solid story with the tantalizing taste of the otherworldly only works when guided by a strong cast of characters. Merrily Watkins is priest, exorcist, mother-- a smart, brave, and compassionate woman committed to doing what's right and good for people-- oftentimes against the advice of church hierarchy. (Merrily believes in helping people regardless of their church affiliation-- or lack thereof.) She calls her teenage daughter "flower" and although Jane is the usual prickly moodswinging adolescent with more than a passing interest in the occult, she's basically a good kid who loves her mother. In fact Jane and her boyfriend of the moment Eirion (Jane always thinks of him as "Irene") not only supply some of the thrills and chills in A Crown of Lights, they add some of the humor that's needed to leaven a rather dark tale.

My interest in the supernatural is superficial at best, and if that's all Phil Rickman's books had to offer, I wouldn't read them. Everything he writes is rooted firmly in humanity-- our mistakes that frighten and shame us, and the lengths to which we will go to hide and protect those mistakes-- and in the history and immeasurable passage of time in this area of the Welsh borders. Several times in reading A Crown of Lights, I was reminded of an evening when my husband and I were driving through the English countryside and the tower of an ancient church loomed suddenly above me out of the dark and the fog. Phil Rickman is a master of character, of blending history and belief, and of atmosphere. Whenever I read a Merrily Watkins book and feel "a tighter breathing, And zero at the bone," I smile. ( )

Three volumes into a series might be a bit too early to look for recurring patterns, but I couldn’t help but notice that this third volume in Phil Rickman’s Merrily Watkins series is comparatively light on the occult again – much like the first volume in the series was and quite unlike the second one. A Crown of Lights also takes place in a village again and is not just told from the viewpoint of recurring characters (Merrily and her daughter Jane – Lol is absent for this novel) but also of a pagan couple living in said village, both sets of viewpoints balancing each other out nicely.

I liked A Crown of Lights slightly less than the first two instalments in the series. For one thing, the supernatural part comes across as rather muddled – it’s about some kind of ancient evil that is somehow related to buildings, or places, or specific buildings in specific places… it never becomes quite clear and remains too vague to even appear ominous. The criminal case has a bit more substance to it, but also never really takes off and the solution didn’t seem to have been particularly well prepared (under the crime novel genre aspect, that is – viewed under the more general thematic aspect of Pagan vs. Christian that runs through this novel it fit in very well indeed).

Which then would leave us with an occult crime novel in which neither the occult nor the crime elements are particularly compelling, and we’d have to conclude that A Crown of Lights does not work at all. Thankfully, things are not nearly as bad as that, one just needs to adjust one expectations a little, for all the other qualities of Rickman’s previous novels are still in place and make of this an enjoyable read after all. Namely, there is his great skill in characterisation – Merrily, with all her insecurities, her earnest striving and her indomitable courage remains one of the most likeable protagonists in crime fiction, and her daughter Jane – by turns precocious, annoying and loveable – remains one of the most convincingly described teenagers in any kind of fiction. Among recurring characters, Gomer gets a lot of time in the spotlight this time, and Rickman introduces us to Jane’s first boyfriend who is very cute and I hope will return for future volumes.

The other consistent strength of the Merrily Watkins series is its highly atmospheric depiction of life in Britain, and in this aspect, too, A Crown of Lights does not let the reader down. In another parallel to the first volume in the series, A Crown of Lights takes place in a small village again – although this time, the village in question is not even idyllic on the surface but right from the start is torn apart by religious fanaticism and prejudice. Rickman does an excellent job of conveying the increasingly oppressive atmosphere of resentment pervading the village until it finally explodes in violence.

So, even with both the occult and the crime novel elements falling a bit short this time, A Crown of Lights still remains an enjoyable read and another solid installment to what is shaping up to be one of the more interesting and unconventional mystery series out there.

Part of a solid series with an interesting setting and sympathetic continuing characters. This episode, though, is not the best--too many plot elements, none of them compelling, no strong focus. Least "occult" of the series I've read. ( )

The third Merrily Watkins book. This time we see a mixture of evangelism and paganism. For some reason I always struggle with this book. The pagan couple Robin and Betty seem too bland whilst fundamentalist priest Nick Ellis comes across as unhinged to me. Aside from Merrily and co, you don't really have sympathy for the characters and therefore I'm never that bothered about the outcome. ( )

Phil Rickman returns to a theme he's touched on before: the relationship between paganism and Christianity, seeing powerful forces for good in both. The ones who come in for a lot of stick are the fundamentalist Christians who want to control others, personified here by the truly creepy Nicholas Ellis. Lots of strong characters and a brooding countryside, as ever.