The Night Stairs

Had me hooked from page one… a twisty, confounding mystery – Jennie Godfrey, author of THE LIST OF SUSPICIOUS THINGS
Nobody builds a world quite as believable as Erin Kelly. And no one can tear it down quite so deliberately too. The Night Stairs is another captivating, fiendishly clever thriller with blindsiding twists – John Marrs, author of DEAD IN THE WATER
I’ve loved each of Erin Kelly’s novels – but The Night Stairs is my new favourite. The richly evoked setting of St Cordula’s convent school becomes a playground for malaise and madness, in this relentlessly gripping psychological thriller. Original, atmospheric, and deliciously dark – Lucy Clarke, author of THE HIKE
Outstanding…peeling back the layers of respectability and tradition in a Catholic girls’ school to reveal incense-bitter truths. Atmospheric and expertly crafted, this is as much an insightful novel about female friendship and betrayal as it is a compelling mystery…Erin Kelly is one of the absolute best in the business. – Jane Casey, author of THE SECRET ROOM
Wonderful and original novel… intelligent, nuanced and immersive, as well as intricately plotted, with a deeply convincing cast of characters and an extraordinary depiction and understanding of teenage girls. The twists are powerful… – Claire Kendal, author of MAKE YOU MINE
I was utterly absorbed by this chilling and immersive thriller. The plot is intricate, the twists are head-spinning, the setting is so vivid I can still walk around it in my mind, but what I loved most of all were the perfectly painfully rendered characters. – Holly Seddon, author of 59 MINUTES
Hysteria, secrets, faith… and murder? This gothic boarding school mystery had all of my favourite things, and gripped me until the very last twist. Erin Kelly is a cut above – Juno Dawson, author of HER MAJESTY’S ROYAL COVEN
Erin Kelly is the master of the immersive thriller and The Night Stairs is a wonderful example of her ability to weave multiple timelines, characters and mysteries together to tease, challenge and ultimately entertain the reader…Writing with wit and devastating accuracy Kelly reminds us of how a tension filled adolescence can so easily tip into horror – Sinead Crowley, author of THE BELLADONNA MAZE
A brilliant psychological thriller, with all of Kelly’s customary fierceness and focus. – Lucy Mangan, author of BOOKISH
The Night Stairs is a stunning gothic thriller: beautifully-written, wise, moving, and utterly compelling. Erin Kelly is one of our very best writers, and her latest novel is an absolute triumph – Alex North, author of THE MAN MADE OF SMOKE
I’d be very surprised if I read a better novel this year. A slow-burn mystery set at a Catholic girls’ boarding school…proves that Kelly really is the queen of psychological suspense – Clare Coughlan * Sunday Independent *
Erin Kelly is in her element. Compulsively creepy and genuinely thrilling. Old legends twist together with teenaged trauma in this superbly atmospheric and cleverly-structured convent school thriller. Warning: this will keep you up all night. – Anna Mazzola, author of THE BOOK OF SECRETS
The gothic thriller Erin Kelly was born to write. Ferociously clever, witty, and immersive, it perfectly captures the pain of being a bullied outsider, the intensity of female friendships, and the nastiness of teenage girls. All while serving devilish twists. Her best yet.’ – Sarah Vaughan, author of BASED ON A TRUE STORY
Erin is so brilliant at world-building. I was totally absorbed by the claustrophobia and Gothic dread of St Cordula’s… All those secrets and repression - It’s like a gruesome combination of its own references, Enid Blyton and Virginia Andrews. Clever, ingenious and gripping – Sabine Durrant, author of SUN DAMAGE
Steeped in Catholic guilt and sin, this darkly disturbing novel enmeshes a past of myth and mystery with the hysteria affecting a convent school in the present. Erin Kelly has conjured such a brilliant evocation of psychological tension as she dares us to descend the twisting menace of The Night Stairs – Essie Fox, author of CATHERINE
Reading The Night Stairs is like falling into a fever dream – enchanting, embroiling, and addictive. An absolute classic from the peerless Erin Kelly – Sarah Hilary, author of THE DROWNING PLACE
A new Erin Kelly novel is a drop-everything event for me and The Night Stairs is my favourite yet. Gorgeous prose, gloriously gothic atmosphere, ingenious plotting – it’s both an intelligent, twisty thriller and a powerful observation of the intensity of being a teenage girl. Masterfully done. – Nicci Cloke, author of HER MANY FACES
A sinfully addictive read with a twisting tale that spans two generations hiding one dark secret… A story about guilt and belonging, found families fighting classism, the weight of guilt and the burden of secrets. An intricately layered plot and cast of fully-fleshed visceral characters offers a truly indulgent and immersive reading experience. Erin Kelly is the master of mystery – Callie Kazumi, author of CUCKOO
This taut gothic suspense novel kept me up late frantically turning pages. It’s a thoroughly twentieth-century take on dark academia…Kelly has written another chilling and perceptive novel that’s a must-read – Chris Bridges, author of SICK TO DEATH
A unique storyteller * Observer *
Erin Kelly is a class act * Good Housekeeping *

Erin Kelly is the Sunday Times bestselling author of:

• The Poison Tree (a major ITV drama and a Richard & Judy Summer Read)
• The Sick Rose
• The Burning Air
• The Ties That Bind
• He Said/She Said (spent six weeks in the top ten in hardback and paperback, longlisted for Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year award, and selected for the Simon Mayo Radio 2 and Richard & Judy Book Clubs)
• Stone Mothers / We Know You Know
• Watch Her Fall
• The Skeleton Key (a Sunday Times top ten bestseller and selected as a Waterstones Thriller of the Month)
• The House of Mirrors
• Broadchurch- The Novel (inspired by the award-winning TV series)

Born in London in 1976, Erin lives in north London with her husband and daughters.

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