Books like The Remains of an Altar (Merrily Watkins Mysteries) by Phil Rickman
When a spate of road accidents plagues the quiet Malvern village of Wychehill, Merrily Watkins—parish priest and Deliverance Consultant to the Diocese of Hereford—is called to uncover the truth. The investigation reveals a hidden tension between the defenders of Olde Englande and the hard‑men of the drug world, centred on the proposed takeover of a local pub by a nightclub owner with a criminal reputation. As the village’s choral society prepares to stage an open‑air performance of Elgar’s *Caractacus* on a prehistoric hill fort, the deaths begin, intertwining Elgar’s legacy, ghostly rumours, and a modern crime plot in a thriller that blends mystery, clergy, and the supernatural.
First publish date: 2006
Genre: Mystery & Detective/Cozy Mystery
Authors: Phil Rickman
★
★
★
★
★
0.0 (0 community ratings)
How are these books recommended?
The books recommended for The Remains of an Altar (Merrily Watkins Mysteries) by Phil Rickman are shaped by reader interaction. Votes on how closely books relate, user ratings, and community comments all help refine these recommendations and highlight books readers genuinely find similar in theme, ideas, and overall reading experience.
Have you read any of these books?
Your votes, ratings, and comments help improve recommendations and make it easier
for other readers to discover books they’ll enjoy.
Books similar to The Remains of an Altar (Merrily Watkins Mysteries) (25 similar books)
Alicia Berenson, a celebrated painter, shoots her husband Gabriel and then falls silent, becoming a media sensation. In North London’s Grove secure unit, psychotherapist Theo Faber devotes himself to uncovering why she became the Silent Patient and his own true motives.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Detective Harry Bosch and rookie partner Lucia Soto reopen a decades‑old LAPD cold case when a stray bullet finally kills its victim, uncovering a politically charged mystery that turns out to be anything but random.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
When a coastal dog retrieves a bone that turns out to be human, Isa Wilde’s idyllic village of Salten is thrust into terror as her childhood friends uncover a dark secret, unraveling their shared past.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Investigating the brutal murders of two vacationing families in sunny Virginia Beach, FBI agents Ryan Sinclair and Buzz Crane suspect the work of a notorious serial killer and tap the skills of preeminent clinical expert Charlotte Stone, who is also the culprit's only known survivor.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
In the Welsh border, former SAS trooper Syd Spicer fears a hidden pain he refuses to discuss, while his friend Merrily Watkins, a diocesan exorcist for Hereford, probes a rural mystery that blends urban crime with ancient pagan secrets.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
1 volume ; 20 cm
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
When a flood threatens the serene Herefordshire village of Ledwardine, parish priest Merrily Watkins confronts rising waters, hidden tensions, and a buried Bronze Age mystery that links the community’s past to an ominous present.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
When a body is discovered in a dark waterfall pool outside the town of Hay, exorcist Merrily Watkins is called to investigate. Her supernatural expertise uncovers a buried secret history of magic and ritual murder, leaving her fully unprotected.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
In a crumbling border hotel, a young woman uncovers a sinister mystery involving inherited evil, a love affair, and the origins of ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’ while her mother, a diocesan exorcist, faces a looming snowstorm and a deadly threat.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Merely Watkins, a deliverance consultant, is sent to investigate a ruined Master House tied to the Duchy of Cornwall. When a violent death unfolds, she unearths hidden sin, medieval feuds, and modern Masonic ties in the haunted Welsh village of Garway.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
In the decaying village of Underhowle, Reverend Merrily Watkins teams with gravedigger Gomer Parry to uncover a serial killer, confronting her own doubts and a controversial funeral as she battles hidden tensions amid high-voltage power lines.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
In Herefordshire’s hop‑farming heartland, a converted kiln becomes the crime scene of a brutal murder, and Diocesan Exorcist Merrily Watkins is dispatched to probe the tangled web of deception, corruption and supernatural suspicions that threaten the quiet village.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
On the Welsh border, an exorcist diocese consultant is called to temper a witch‑hunt sparked by a pagan couple’s purchase of a redundant church.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
In the historic border town of Ludlow, a series of uncanny deaths leads a retired detective and a single‑mother parish priest on a hunt for a truth that may lie beyond this life.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Exorcist Rev. Merrily Watkins investigates a body in the River Wye, a desecrated church and a dark ritual in Hereford, confronting an ancient evil tied to the Church of England.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
In a rainy Hereford, a medieval legend unleashes a sinister cult and forces exorcist Merrily Watkins to confront centuries‑old human bones, a modernizing bishop, and a haunted estate on the Wales border.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
When the new vicar arrives at the secluded village of Ledwardine, he discovers a town steeped in secrets, abuse, and supernatural whispers that threaten to upend his quiet existence.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Some Other Similar Books
Midwinter Murders by Phil RickmanThe Fabric of the Dead by Phil Rickman
The Mercy of Monsters by Phil Rickman
Dark Beacon by Phil Rickman
The Last Sacrament by Phil Rickman
The Last Window Gazer by Phil Rickman
The Dishonored Dead by J. D. Rinehart
A Dark Adapted Eye by Barbara Vine
The Mercy of the Night by Alice Jolly
The Snow Castle by Avni Doshi
The Burning Edge by James Phelan
Have a similar book in mind? Let others know!
Please login to submit books!