Ah, the English parish church.
Stone-built, unexpectedly glorious, and a haven of peace and sanctuary.
And before anyone says, "surely that's too fancy for a village!?", let me assure you it isn't.
I don't know where this one is (I found the image on Pixabay) but they can be surprisingly grand, even in the middle of nowhere.
For example, the small town I grew up in has a 11th-century church on top of a hill with a huge stained glass window (admittedly Victorian, so less exciting than if it was Medieval - but still cool), beautiful stone carving, and a spire you can see for miles - and in 1801, only 405 people lived in what was then just a village!
And considering the canal went through in 1779, there'd probably just been a population increase thanks to new jobs at the fancy local mill that was built around the same time to make the most of the new waterway...
But I digress.
My point is, regardless of how magnificent this little beauty is, it'll do quite reasonably as a representation of St Werburgh's Church in Castlebury Magna
But as you can probably imagine, these much-loved pieces of English history need a lot of maintainence to keep in good shape.
Lucas Rathbone knows this all too well, having run countless appeals in the Castlebury Gazette on behalf of Reverend Robin.
Mrs Murphy knew it too, and traded the secrets she found for additional help with the upkeep of her beloved church.
And her devotion to the House of God may very well have got her killed.
But which of the many, many secrets she'd gathered caused her untimely demise?
Which of the good, upstanding people of Castlebury blotted their soul with murder?
You can find out in just over a week's time when The Phantom Murder, which hits digital shelves on 7th July (preorder now live at books2read.com/LucasRathboneBook5)
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