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Every school has its scandals. At St Cordula’s, the next one could be fatal.

‘Had me hooked from page one’ JENNIE GODFREY
‘Deliciously dark’ JANE FALLON
‘Relentlessly gripping… Original, atmospheric’ LUCY CLARKE

St Cordula’s Catholic boarding school has survived for centuries on tradition, discipline and silence. Now its future is under threat, and Deputy Head Fiona Fox is preparing to lead the controversial change that could save it from ruin.

But St Cordula’s has always had rules of its own.

Legend has it that the ghost of fifteenth-century nun, Sister Matilda, will keep the school 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, remain.

Every year, the words are repainted.

The only time they were allowed to fade, in 2002, a terrifying outbreak of vertigo swept through the pupils. One girl died on the night stairs. And only three people know what really happened.

Now the vertigo is back, and as panic sweeps the school, Fiona must confront a dark secret from her past.

Or face the deadly consequences…

‘A complex and beautifully written gothic thriller… I raced through it’ CLARE MACKINTOSH
‘A stylish and utterly compulsive read from one of my favourite storytellers’ RUTH WARE
‘Hysteria, secrets, faith… and murder? This gothic boarding school mystery… gripped me until the very last twist’ JUNO DAWSON

Publisher Review

Had me hooked from page one. . . a twisty, confounding mystery — Jennie Godfrey, author of THE LIST OF SUSPICIOUS THINGS Kelly brilliantly evokes the hothouse atmosphere of the school, and the dangerously intense feelings it fosters * Mail on Sunday * Erin Kelly is the utter queen of dark and twisty…an absolute joy — Joanna Cannon, author of AN UNLIKELY VISITOR 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 A spine-chilling read * Good Housekeeping * 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 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 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 This elegantly written gothic thriller has a twist for the ages * i * 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 A beautifully written, gothic thriller with dark twists. Deeply atmospheric, with insight in spades * Platinum * A brilliant psychological thriller, with all of Kelly’s customary fierceness and focus. — Lucy Mangan, author of BOOKISH A brilliantly dark thriller * The Sun * 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 Conjuring the style of the Brontes and the British gothic, this is a page turner par excellence * Crime Time * 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 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 This dark academia thriller haunts until the final page * Crime Monthly *