Erin Kelly

Reading The Night Stairs is like falling into a fever dream – enchanting, embroiling, and addictive. An absolute classic from the peerless Erin Kelly

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

Jennie Godfrey, author of THE LIST OF SUSPICIOUS THINGS

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

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

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. . .

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

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.

Erin Kelly is the kind of writer whose work you read and instantly wish it were your own

Kelly is a master at drip-feeding us the details, keeping us guessing about the truth, and the many shades of grey it contains, right until the end

Erin Kelly just gets better and better with every book!

When schoolgirls start fainting one after the other at a convent boarding school, old legends twist into new scandals. From irresistible bestselling storyteller Erin Kelly comes the new compulsive thriller that will leave you craving to read more. 
 
'Had me hooked from page one. . . a twisty, confounding mystery' JENNIE GODFREY 
 
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… 
 
'Like falling into a fever dream – enchanting, embroiling, and addictive. An absolute classic from the peerless Erin Kelly' Sarah Hilary 
 
PRAISE FOR ERIN KELLY: 
 
‘So thrilling and unexpected that it made my head spin’ LISA JEWELL 
‘Gripping, twisting, furiously clever’ RUTH WARE 
‘Erin Kelly is supremely skilled at unusual and intelligent suspense plots’ DAILY MAIL 
‘Original, suspenseful, and with complex characters that spring irresistibly to life on the page’ LOUISE CANDLISH 
‘An incredibly atmospheric psychological thriller with a clever, elaborate plot’ GRAZIA 
‘Incomparable…captivating, cleverly constructed’ PAULA HAWKINS 
‘A completely addictive story…Erin Kelly is a genius’ JANE CASEY 
‘Magnificent’ MARIAN KEYES 
‘A gripping tale of secrets, revenge and obsession, masterfully done’ GUARDIAN 
‘A unique storyteller; impossible to predict, impossible to put down’ JOHN MARRS 
‘Propulsive… atmospheric, original’ GILLIAN McALLISTER 
‘A taut chamber-piece of psychological suspense’ FINANCIAL TIMES 
'The worlds she creates are so rich and alive' JANE FALLON

Erin Kelly

Praise for The Night Stairs

Reading The Night Stairs is like falling into a fever dream – enchanting, embroiling, and addictive. An absolute classic from the peerless Erin Kelly

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

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 rele ...

Reading The Night Stairs is like falling into a fever dream – enchanting, embroiling, and addictive. An absolute classic from the peerless Erin Kelly

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

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 rele ...

Reading The Night Stairs is like falling into a fever dream – enchanting, embroiling, and addictive. An absolute classic from the peerless Erin Kelly

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

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 rele ...

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter