Native Rites

by David Hewson

An early rural English Gothic chiller from the author of the Nic Costa series and the forthcoming books of the hit Danish TV series The Killing, newly revised in July 2012.Alison Fenway is an American newly moved to rural Kent with her English husband, living in a remote picture postcard village with a cricket pitch, a vibrant, insular local community... and many hidden local customs. Michaelmas comes and with it the annual bonfire ceremony. Drunk, Alison thinks she sees something sinister -- a body in the flames. But the next day the seemingly-innocent locals laugh at her faint memories. As her husband Miles commutes to the City, Alison finds herself drawn into the village community, both embraced and resented by its different elements.And over the coming year, as it divides into the ancient festivals, she begins to see behind the facade of Beulah, into the dark heart of an English countryside with a bloody and vengeful history that's about to swamp her. Hailed by Amazon readers...'Fabulous countryside chiller -- Hewson's most accessible, suspenseful novel yet. A young couple move to the country. The husband Miles commutes each day to the city, leaving his wife Alison to get to know the locals, many of whom are frankly not all that friendly. At weekends, Miles, oblivious to his wife's concerns, loves to be 'one of the lads' in the pub. November comes, and with it the ancient bonfire festival. Alison could have been drunk, but she feels certain that she saw something terrible happen at the fire. And her husband was involved. Paranoia? Or a murder that an entire village has conspired in?'Now only available in ebook. This is a full-length novel of almost 140,000 words.

Genres: Fiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

DAVID HEWSON was born in Yorkshire in 1953. His books range from the Nic Costa series set in Italy to adaptations of The Killing in Copenhagen and the Pieter Vos series in Amsterdam.
He's adapted Shakespeare for Audible and in 2018 won the Audie for best original work for Romeo and Juliet: A Novel, narrated by Richard Armitage.
2019 sees the release of a new, full-cast Audible drama set in New York, Last Seen Wearing, and a standalone novel set in the Faroe Islands, Devil's Fjord.

Series:
Nic Costa

Pieter Vos

The Killing

Reviews

[Tony Hewetson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read all David Hewson's Nic Costa series, but I think this is his best work, except for 'Cemetery of secrets' (aka 'Lucifer's shadow'). Managed to find a paperback copy in the Birmingham (UK) libraries system, but if you can track this down, it's worth it (good ending!)

[Hana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written well, i could see Beulah fairly vividly in my mind due to description. It was rather steamy, which i was not expecting, fitted fairly well in the the "supernatural horror" section due to this and its unsusual plot.

[Galleon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too much sex, too much fantasy