The Night Stairs

byErin Kelly

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When schoolgirls start fainting one after the other at a convent boarding school, old legends twist into new scandals.

Centuries of tradition are coming to an end at St Cordula's school. Deputy Head, Fiona Fox, is about to preside over a controversial move to save it from ruin. But it’s not easy to change things at a school this old.

Legend has it that the ghost of fifteenth-century nun, Sister Matilda, will keep St Cordula’s safe. But only as long as the words ‘GOD FORGIVE ME’, scrawled by Matilda on a chapel staircase wall before she fell to her death, are repainted every year. The words have only been allowed to fade once, in 2002. But then, fits of vertigo spread through the pupils, and a second girl fell to her death on the night stairs.

Only three people know the truth of what happened on the night of the tragedy.

Now the vertigo is back, and Fiona must stem the outbreak before it threatens St Cordula’s future, or worse, another girl loses her life.

But when one of her pupils begins a dangerous investigation into the past, old secrets start to twist into new scandals…

'Had me hooked from page one. . . a twisty, confounding mystery' JENNIE GODFREY

'A complex and beautifully written gothic thriller...I raced through it' CLARE MACKINTOSH

'Relentlessly gripping...Original, atmospheric, and deliciously dark' LUCY CLARKE

'Outstanding...as much an insightful novel about female friendship and betrayal as it is a compelling mystery' JANE CASEY

'A stylish and utterly compulsive read from one of my favourite storytellers' RUTH WARE

© Erin Kelly 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026

Had me hooked from page one. . . a twisty, confounding mystery

Jennie Godfrey, author of THE LIST OF SUSPICIOUS THINGS

About Erin Kelly

Erin Kelly is the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Poison Tree, The Sick Rose, The Burning Air, The Ties That Bind, He Said/She Said, Stone Mothers/We Know You Know, Watch Her Fall, The Skeleton Key and The House of Mirrors, as well as Broadchurch: The Novel, inspired by the award-winning TV series. The Poison Tree became a major ITV drama and was a Richard & Judy Summer Read. He Said/She Said spent six weeks in the top ten in both hardback and paperback, was longlisted for the Theakston's Old Peculier crime novel of the year award and selected for both the Simon Mayo Radio 2 and Richard & Judy Book Clubs. The Skeleton Key was a Sunday Times top ten bestseller and was selected as a Waterstones Thriller of the Month. Born in London in 1976, Erin lives in north London with her husband and daughters.
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Details
  • Imprint: Vintage Digital
  • ISBN: 9781529977615
  • Price: £14.00
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