A Candle for Lucifer: An evil vicar beyond redemption?

A Candle for Lucifer depicts how to outward appearances good and evil are readily confused, more so when operating under the protection of the religious Establishment.

To those within the Church of England, Revd Canon Wilkes appears to be a good and devout man, although to a group of drinkers in the local pub he is quickly identified as pure evil. It takes longer for his wife to reach the same conclusion, even as their family life unravels particularly around their daughter Katy. Only after murder, prostitution and an unspeakably corrupt bishop have done their worst does evil get run to ground.

From many years working both as a prison chaplain and parish vicar, the author creates an assortment of characters from the truly hideous to the genuinely good.

When evil disguises itself as light the story reveals how in a world of opposites nothing is as it appears. From the Latin 'lux' meaning Light, Lucifer is but another name for Satan, more so through imitating 'Lucifer' the name given to Venus when it rises as the morning star.

About the author: Andrew would describe himself as a troubled priest who has long endured a love/hate relationship with the Church of England even as he served a lifetime's ministry within it. His own story consists of his struggle against a troubling evangelical upbringing, while remaining indebted to the Christian teaching he received. It was as a prison chaplain in particular that he found himself questioning the mores of respectable Christianity (which he dubs 'Churchianity), and indeed the mores of society at large and out of which he detected hypocrisy being rife everywhere. He has always loved writing, although his more academic tome 'One hour to breathe' challenging Christian so-called 'orthodoxy' never saw the light of day, he quickly came to appreciate similar truths could be conveyed through the more entertaining genre of crime thrillers.

Married with three grown up sons, he continues as a full-time writer. His other interests include music, reading extensively and the restoration and re-upholstering of Victorian/Edwardian chairs! While seeking to explore the deeper meaning of life he endeavours never to take himself too seriously!