[YX8]⇒ [PDF] Free The Smile of a Ghost Merrily Watkins Mysteries Phil Rickman 9781405051699 Books

The Smile of a Ghost Merrily Watkins Mysteries Phil Rickman 9781405051699 Books

Download As PDF : The Smile of a Ghost Merrily Watkins Mysteries Phil Rickman 9781405051699 Books

The Smile of a Ghost Merrily Watkins Mysteries Phil Rickman 9781405051699 Books

You don't want to be a lawyer or a psychiatrist in a Phil Rickman novel. If you show up, you'll be treated like dirt because you are dirt. However, it's okay to wander around with an embalmed baby in tow, and treat your live kin as if you wish they were dead. `Eccentric' is usually stretched to `lovable' in the Merrily Watkins mysteries, but I can't quite bring myself to love the crazy lady of this novel.

"The Smile of a Ghost" is very much about relatives and the awful things they do to each other, including driving the more vulnerable ones to suicide. When a fourteen-year-old boy who is mad about medieval history, takes a dive off of Ludlow Castle, people wonder whether it was a suicide, an accident, or murder.

By book's end, we are pretty sure it wasn't an accident or suicide, but are not positive as to the identity of the boy's killer. I personally didn't care for Merrily's suspect. The retired police officer's suspect was an evil twerp, but I was pretty sure he wouldn't work outside of his own turf. The one suspect that did make sense to me was the weird goth-woman's choice of killer, but I refuse to agree with her on anything. You'll have to decide for yourself.

Evidently bomb-makers are not the only type of terrorists working for Great Britain's National Health Services. You'll meet another type in "The Smile of a Ghost" that Lol had the misfortune to fall under the care of while he was incarcerated in a mental institution. When he composes a song about his experience, bad things begin to happen to him and Merrily. However, Lol solves his problem brilliantly and he is one of the real heroes of this complex, multi-layered mystery.

But if Lol can show enough maturity to confront an evil psychiatrist from his past, why can't he and Merrily stop sneaking into each other's bedrooms and just get hitched? It should put a stop to the poison-pen letters once and for all. Does anyone recall a reason why they shouldn't get married? Bishop Bernie could officiate in his purple shirt, and Gomer Parry, the manic digger-for-hire could be the best man. Jane, pagan that she is, could be the maid-of-honor. Let's drop all of this artificial angst and get on with life. Lucy, one of the many ghosts in this novel would certainly smile on the union.


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The Smile of a Ghost Merrily Watkins Mysteries Phil Rickman 9781405051699 Books Reviews

As always, Phil Rickman never fails to deliver a fantastic read. I only wish he would write faster! What are we to do if we run out of Phil Rickman books!!!!!
Took this book to the beach and finished in two days. I plan to go backwards now and start with the first book ! Characters are interesting, setting is perfect. All the way around well written and enjoyable.
Another winner from the amazingly talented Phil Rickman! It seems to me that every Merrily book is better than the last. I cannot say enough positive things about this author.
This is book 7 in the Merrily Watkins series. Merrily's under pressure, and so is the whole office of, well essentially exorcist for the Church of England. Merrily is forced to do her work with a committee who have no belief in the more woo woo stuff that Merrily has to deal with. This book deals with the apparent suicide of a young man related to a former police officer of Merrily's acquaintance. Merrily is called in because the tower is rumored to be haunted.
If I had known before I bought the first Merrily Watkins novel (The Wine of Angels) that Merrily is an exorcist, I probably would have saved my money. But I didn't know, and now I'm hooked.

The characters are fabulous - Merrily, the sometimes hapless vicar; Jane, the pagan daughter; Gomer, the archetypal local; Lol, the fragile folk-rock mystery. Any and all of these will fix your attention and concern, to say nothing of a wide array of secondary characters and ghosts. OK, the ghosts sound hard to take, but Rickman carefully constructs Merrily's vocation, making the line between spiritual work and work with spirits very faint indeed. The vicar's faith is remarkably practical and so are most of the problems she faces.

The plots grow out of the settings on the Welsh border, exquisitely detailed in all the books. In Smile of a Ghost, the town of Ludlow becomes another character, in some ways the principal victim. Of all the books, this one has the most subtly integrated element of the supernatural you can take it or leave it.

If the exorcist plot makes you nervous, start with this book and see if your concerned affection for Merrily, Lol, Jane and others doesn't over-come your hesitation.
I'm trying to work my way through the series. It is certainly dark, and that makes me less eager to read through them FAST. But each book has a decent story, and this is no exception. Neither mystery nor ghost story, a combination of both. SOME titles are scarier than others, this one not so much.
I truly love this series! There is just something so utterly lifelike about it, despite the supernatural elements that flit in and out of the plots. Although, this is one of the series' least supernatural so far. All of the regular characters make appearances here which is always a relief - and the plot that starts out so simply quickly becomes more complex with plenty of strings to be tied together by the conclusion.

This edition also includes some photographs of the area, which only roots the series even more firmly in reality. It really is a nice addition! Rickman's books really have it all - plot, setting, characters - all masterfully crafted. And while the books may lack some of the "flash-and-bang" showiness, they are still quite exciting and just so authentic feeling!
You don't want to be a lawyer or a psychiatrist in a Phil Rickman novel. If you show up, you'll be treated like dirt because you are dirt. However, it's okay to wander around with an embalmed baby in tow, and treat your live kin as if you wish they were dead. `Eccentric' is usually stretched to `lovable' in the Merrily Watkins mysteries, but I can't quite bring myself to love the crazy lady of this novel.

"The Smile of a Ghost" is very much about relatives and the awful things they do to each other, including driving the more vulnerable ones to suicide. When a fourteen-year-old boy who is mad about medieval history, takes a dive off of Ludlow Castle, people wonder whether it was a suicide, an accident, or murder.

By book's end, we are pretty sure it wasn't an accident or suicide, but are not positive as to the identity of the boy's killer. I personally didn't care for Merrily's suspect. The retired police officer's suspect was an evil twerp, but I was pretty sure he wouldn't work outside of his own turf. The one suspect that did make sense to me was the weird goth-woman's choice of killer, but I refuse to agree with her on anything. You'll have to decide for yourself.

Evidently bomb-makers are not the only type of terrorists working for Great Britain's National Health Services. You'll meet another type in "The Smile of a Ghost" that Lol had the misfortune to fall under the care of while he was incarcerated in a mental institution. When he composes a song about his experience, bad things begin to happen to him and Merrily. However, Lol solves his problem brilliantly and he is one of the real heroes of this complex, multi-layered mystery.

But if Lol can show enough maturity to confront an evil psychiatrist from his past, why can't he and Merrily stop sneaking into each other's bedrooms and just get hitched? It should put a stop to the poison-pen letters once and for all. Does anyone recall a reason why they shouldn't get married? Bishop Bernie could officiate in his purple shirt, and Gomer Parry, the manic digger-for-hire could be the best man. Jane, pagan that she is, could be the maid-of-honor. Let's drop all of this artificial angst and get on with life. Lucy, one of the many ghosts in this novel would certainly smile on the union.