The 12th instalment in the Merrily Watkins seriesWhen a man's body is discovered near the picturesque town of Hay-on-Wye, his death appears to be'unnatural' in every sense. Merrily Watkins, priest, single mother and exorcist, is drafted in to investigate.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 forty 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.

Phil Rickman was born in Lancashire and lives on the Welsh border where he writes and presents the book programme Phil the Shelf on BBC Radio Wales. He is the acclaimed author of Dr Dee, The Bones of Avalon,Midwinter Spirit (now a major ITV series), the Merrily Watkins Mysteries and the John Dee papers. Visit his website at: www.philrickman.co.uk