Attempts are being made to contact Mrs Jennifer Powell, from whom, it may surprise you to learn, Mr Garrod Powell has never been legally separated and to whom it appears the Powell Orchard may now belong. In view of her long estrangement from Mr Powell, it seems likely that Mrs Powell will wish to dispense with the property, especially in view of the gruesome discoveries there over the past few days.

Be assured that I shall keep you fully informed of any future developments; meanwhile, please accept my very best wishes for your Installation Service next Friday.

Yours sincerely, Harold L. McCready.

CLOSING CREDITS.

THE RESEARCH FOR this novel meant bothering various vicars and historians, principally The Revs. Richard Birt (the great Traherne expert), Philip Clarke (Priest-in-Charge) and John Guy, Bob Jenkins and Ron Shoesmith. None of whom should be blamed for any errors, distortions or complete lies.

Many thanks also to Penny Arnold, Wendy and Paul Gibbons, Lara Latcham, June and Doug Mason, Jeanine McMullen and the late, great Graham Nown.

The book was dissected and probed in depth over two gruelling weeks by my wife Carol, the finest plot doctor in the business.

Ella Leather's classic The Folklore of Herefordshire is now available from Lapridge Publications, the full story of the amazing Hannah Snell is told in The Folklore of Hereford and Worcester by Roy Palmer, from Logaston Press, who also publish, with its author Elizabeth Taylor, King's Caple in Archenfield, the outstanding, elegantly written and massively detailed history of a Herefordshire village which provided many little details about churches and cider. The tragic facts about Nick Drake (whose albums are seriously recommended) are revealed in Patrick Humphries' biography, Nick Drake, published by Bloomsbury, Trevor Dann's Darker than the Deepest Sea, and Penguin Classics do the Selected Poems and Prose of Thomas Traherne of whom I was reminded, just in time, by Sue Gee's moving and atmospheric novel The Hours of the Night.

ALSO BY.

PHIL.

RICKMAN.

THE MERRILY WATKINS SERIES.

Midwinter of the Spirit.

A Crown of Lights.

The Cure of Souls.

The Lamp of the Wicked.

The Prayer of the Night Shepherd.

The Smile of A Ghost The Remains of An Altar.

The Fabric of Sin.

To Dream of the Dead.

Coming soon ...

The Secrets of Pain.