The Lamp of the Wicked

Merrily must unearth the mysteries of the decaying village of Underhowle, and tackle a particularly stubborn Detective Inspector who strays off course... ''Few writers blend the ancient and supernatural with the modern and criminal better than Rickman.'' - Guardian ''You''re looking at his inspiration. These are ones he wishes he''d done, the ones he wishes he''d got to first.'' After half a century of decay, the village of Underhowle looked to be on the brink of a new prosperity. Now, instead, it seems destined for notoriety as the home of a psychotic serial killer. DI Frannie Bliss, of Hereford CID, is convinced he knows where the bodies are buried, but Merrily Watkins wonders if Bliss isn''t blinkered by personal ambition. Are the Underhowle deaths really linked to the legacy of Fred West and the most sickening cycle of killings in British criminal history?