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The Echo of Crows

Merrily Watkins, Book 17

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The Echo of Crows

By: Phil Rickman
Narrated by: Emma Powell
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About this listen

Welcome to the Wye Valley, exactly on the border of England and Wales, home to a dark legacy of murder...

Nestled deep in the Black Mountains, the village of Longtown is haunted by killings both ancient and modern. When young farmer and lottery winner Eddy Davies is found dead in suspicious circumstances, Herefordshire Police find themselves handling a complicated investigation. Things aren't looking good for Davies's friend, the mysterious Autumn Wise, who is found nearby holding a shotgun.

When Merrily Watkins – parish priest, single mum and renowned demon exorcist – comes to Autumn's aid, she soon discovers that Eddy's death is only the latest in a long string of tragedies to blight Longtown and the surrounding area.

But help is at hand from Merrily's spiritual advisor, the Reverend Huw Owen, who has an unorthodox solution in mind to end the area's centuries-long trail of misfortune...

©2025 Phil Rickman (P)2026 Bolinda Publishing Crime Fiction Mystery Women Sleuths Village

Critic reviews

'A most original sleuth.' (The Times)
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I loved it! Loved how it all came together in the end! Will miss Merrily and the Ledwardine- world (and everybody else in it) dearly! Thank you! RIP Phil!

Loved how it all came together...

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A fitting ending to the series, I have eagerly awaited each new book in the series & im very sad there will not be more to follow up on all the characters.

So sad there won’t be any more

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I have loved Phil Rickman right from his early days as an author, his books offering dark twist and turn mysteries and with the Merrily series decent crime novels. But this, for me, was lacking somewhat, all the elements were there but didn't quite gel, it felt rushed, however considering events at the time of writing it's not a surprise.
I'm pleased we got one final Merrily book and I'm glad the ending tied things up nicely, I just wish there was a little more flesh on the bones.
Sad there will be no more.

Not bad, but not his best

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Just amazing books every single one of these books get read over and over again for me. Thank you Sir. Hopefully more to come please.

Evertthing

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An excellent mystery with all the loose ends tied up. A wonderful series comes to an end.

Thank you Merrily for hours of enjoyment

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