A rural church with origins dating back to the 11th century is set to feature inside the pages of a highly-anticipated crime novel set in East Anglia.
St Mary the Virgin, which lies on the outskirts of the village of Weeting, near Brandon, features as the main image of Elly Griffiths new book, The Last Remains.
And to promote the latest and possibly final Dr Ruth Galloway Mysteries novel, the author will be visiting the church whose striking image of the round-towered building appears on the front cover.
Reverend Canon Joan Horan, the rector at St Mary's, said: “Elly's visit is generating a great deal of community interest in Weeting and the surrounding villages and we are looking forward to welcoming her here.
“Archaeology, I expect, will play a significant role here for the novel and we are hoping to tease out from Elly what’s coming next.
“During her visit, we’re hoping to touch on the church appeal and why the church was chosen to appear on the cover of the book.”
Domenica de Rosa, who writes crime under the pseudonym Elly Griffiths, will also have the chance to meet pupils from Weeting Church of England Primary.
She will present the pupils with signed copies of her children’s series, A Girl Called Justice, to donate to the school.
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Revd Horan added: “We’re very fortunate that St Mary’s has much positive community support in Weeting with community groups working with the PCC to raise much needed money to put towards funding some of the repairs.
"Much of the church is currently closed off due to dangerous plaster falls in the nave. The chancel remains open for Sunday worship but we’re unable to hold baptisms – unless it’s a very small group – weddings or funerals until that work is done.
“Understandably, Elly’s visit is generating much excitement for us.”
The Last Remains opens with the grisly discovery by builders during a café renovation in King's Lynn.
A human skeleton behind a wall is quickly identified as the remains of a young archaeology student who went missing in the 1990s.
It is a crime which leads to the nearby neolithic site of Grimes Graves in Lynford, near Thetford.
- Elly Griffiths will be promoting The Last Remains at St Mary’s from 10.50am on February 1. She will then go to Thetford library for an “in conversation” event from 12.30pm to 2pm.
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