Merrily Watkins

During a summer of oppressive heat in Herefordshire's hop-growing country, a converted kiln is the scene of a savage murder. When the local vicar refuses to deal with its aftermath, diocesan exorcist Merrily Watkins is sent out to a village with a past as twisted as the hop-bines which once enclosed it. She is soon drawn into a deadly tangle of deceit, corruption and sexual menace.