Thu 29 Oct 2009
A Review by Walter Albert: PHIL RICKMAN – The Smile of a Ghost.
Posted by Steve under Bibliographies, Lists & Checklists , Characters , Reviews[4] Comments
PHIL RICKMAN – The Smile of a Ghost. Macmillan, UK, hardcover, Nov 2005; Macmillan-Pan, UK, Nov 2006. Imported & sold in the US under the Trafalgar Square imprint.
Merrily Watkins is a female Anglican priest. She’s also the diocesan exorcist, but there are elements within the local church that have little faith in her “calling,” and as she attempts to deal with a series of deaths of teenagers — deaths that may be something other than accidental — her special skills are put to tests that could end her special role in the church.
Merrily has a daughter, a lover, and a belief in the importance of her role. She’s no conventional cleric, and in spite of her role as an exorcist, this is no retread of the usual horrific events associated with this rite.
Most of the atrocities that are committed in the course of the novel are all too human in origin, although there’s a bit of flirting with the supernatural that may put off the conventional mystery reader. Merrily works within the church, with the local townspeople and in an uneasy alliance, with the local police, trying to keep her footing, not always successfully, among these often opposing elements.
I’ll probably want to try another of the series. It satisfies two of my chief requirements for good mystery: a well-characterized protagonist and a well drawn setting. As for the meshing and weaving of these elements into a compelling plot, I can only say that if I wasn’t mesmerized by the telling (as the Publisher’s Weekly reviewer claimed to be), I wasn’t put off by it either.
The series, at the least, merits another chance.
The Merrily Watkins series —
1. The Wine of Angels (1998)
2. Midwinter of the Spirit (1999)
3. A Crown of Lights (2001)
4. The Cure of Souls (2001)
5. The Lamp of the Wicked (2002)
6. The Prayer of the Night Shepherd (2004)
7. The Smile of a Ghost (2005)
8. The Remains of an Altar (2006)
9. The Fabric of Sin (2007)
10. To Dream of the Dead (2008)
October 29th, 2009 at 8:06 pm
Making the rounds of the mystery section of the local Borders a few months ago, I discovered many six or seven titles in this series, and after looking them over carefully, I bought them all.
To explain, I have gotten really tired of detective fiction that veers into the world of the paranormal; vampire and werewolf detectives have absolutely no appeal to me. But even though these seemed to flirt with the supernatural, to use Walter’s words, I decided that there was enough detective content in them to give them a try.
But, alas, so far I haven’t. There is something about books that are 500 to 600 pages long that intimidates me when it comes to choosing the next book I’m going to read.
Posting this review has nudged my memory about them, though, and maybe I really ought to read one. Since the day I found them at Borders, I haven’t seen them since. Maybe they’ve been moved to supernatural/horror section. I seldom go there, so I wouldn’t know.
October 29th, 2009 at 10:50 pm
I still have three or four of these unread–and except in one case, unopened.
I started, I thought sensibly enough, with the first in the series. That may have been a mistake…
The exposition introducing the setting, the main character, the main character’s back story, the main character’s daughter, the townspeople, the congregation etc. eventually defeated me.
I may give it another go, based on Walter’s recommendation…
(By the way, I like the covers’ design.)
October 29th, 2009 at 11:09 pm
I don’t mind the supernatural thing if it is handled well with the detective content being done straight-forwardly. I generally prefer when the supernatural business turns out to have a clear explanation, though I do have a taste for what is sometimes called the Janus Solution where it is left up to the reader whether the explanation is supernatural or not.
Helen McCloy’s Through a Glass Darkly is a good example. I can still get a chill at the scent of verbenna … And a book like Dorothy MacArdle’s Dark Freehold (The Uninvited) makes no bones about the presence of a very real ghost but the protagonists do a good deal of solid detection in uncovering the mystery behind the ghostly apparition. And Jessie Douglas Keruish’s Undying Monster and some of Dennis Wheatley’s occult books are damn good thrillers as much as horror.
Then too there is Paul Gallico’s Alexander Hero who does some solid detective work proving the supernatural doesn’t exist (Too Many Ghosts, The Hand of Mary Constable). Not to mention writers like James Herbert, John Blackburn, and John Christopher who often mix the elements.
These books by Rickman may take on more interest with the Catholic Church’s recent bid to reclaim a good chunk of the Anglican Church over the issue of women and gay clergy. Nothing like headlines to promote sales.
October 30th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
I can certainly understand Rick’s frustration with Rickman’s lengthy exposition. His style is not the most succinct, and a bit of patience is needed to deal with that. I’ll have to read more of the series to decide if the books are worth plowing through some rather tedious passages. I still had a residue of good will for the series after reading the one title but it may not be inexhaustible.
Steve’s comments about vampire and werewolf fiction caught my eye. I’ve been enjoying vampire fiction since I was 12 or 13 and directed my own adaption of “Dracula” for a neighborhood production in which I also starred. However, there’s been such a glut of vampire fiction of late that my interest has waned. David’s favorable comment on “The Undying Monster” hit a receptive nerve. I saw the movie adaption (recently released on DVD) when it was originally released and and I looked vainly for television screenings for many years. When I did finally watch it again, I was a bit disappointed but the novel (which I’ve returned to more than once) still haunts me. As for “The Uninvited,” the movie is an intelligent, beautifully realized version of the novel and, with its fine script, cast and direction still captivates me when I watch it.
And that’s it for my trip down memory lane on the eve of Halloween 2009.