The Secrets of Pain

I can't believe how long we've had to wait for the latest instalment in the series, but the book has been worth the wait. Its so nice to have Merrily, Jane, Lol, Gomer, Frannie Bliss and Ethel the cat back. Rickman skilfully mixes immigration, rural crime, the SAS, Christianity, Roman mythology, music, big business, banking, murder and infidelity together in a wild ride of a book. As always the book is dark and thought provoking as it subtly explores the tangled morass that is local power politics. Superb.

Very happy to be reading another Merrily Watkins book. The usual central characters are there in full force fighting the local councillors, lords of the manor, 'small county' mindset and everything else thrown in their path.

Phil Rickman has a clever way of making seemingly tiny fragments of detail become important as the plot progresses.

This is a book that really makes you think about the impact of immigration, townies moving to the countryside, the impact of big business, politics - both national and local and also how former army personnel cope, or otherwise, with life outside barracks.

I've read all eleven installments of this series--as they came out--and I can still confidently say that there is no such thing as a bad Merrily Watkins book. This particular installment spent more time with other characters--like the local police officer and Merrily's daughter, Jane--than I would have preferred, but it was still fantastic. No one pulls together threads of mystery, thriller, politics, Paganism and Christianity like Phil Rickman. He never disappoints, and Merrily Watkins is one of the all-time great amateur sleuths. If Rickman were prolific enough to keep up with me, I probably would never read anyone else.

The dedication mentions a launch - maybe the reason for the long gap between books. Excellent read yet again. More background characters brought to life, gripping story intertwined with everyday realities of life for a teenage girl to country crime and the sounds of a JCB. And that's not even mentioning Deliverance....

Merrily versus the SAS.

This one was kind of rough to read, but things mostly turned out ok.