Description

The stunning new crime novel from rising star and multi award shortlisted author, Bonnie Burke-Patel.

‘A superb mystery in the style of Agatha Christie, its atmosphere heightened by the isolated location and the exposure of a series of concealed identities’. Joan Smith, The Times

‘Gorgeously atmospheric and tightly plotted.. a beautiful love story and a confounding locked-room thriller’ Rebecca Hannigan

‘Literary, lyrical… a deeply satisfying whodunnit’ Emma van Straaten

They gather at Saints’ Climb, the only house on an island off the Somerset coast. Seven men with nowhere else to be at Christmas. Father and son George and Xavier Starvely; James, a taciturn archaeologist uneasy with the living; Victor, a French widower; Rik, the groundskeeper; and Chris and Nathan, the two men who want to make a documentary about this place and its extraordinary collection of medieval art. And the housekeeper Marianne, who seems to find peace in serving. Erected around the stone labyrinth built into the floor by monks, Saints’ Climb is a house heavy with loneliness.

Xavier Starvely is a successful academic with a real life elsewhere. Yet he is wracked with guilt over the fragmentary memories of a childhood tragedy, and when his guests arrive on the island for Christmas, the deaths begin afresh.

A labyrinth is different from a maze. There are no false turns or dead ends: there is only one winding path, which, followed faithfully, will always lead to the centre. What will each find at the centre of the labyrinth? And can it save them?

Bonnie’s debut I Died at Fallow Hall was shortlisted for The CWA Gold Dagger, The Betty Trask and The Val McDermid Awards.

Publisher Review

‘Bonnie Burke-Patel has done it again; taken a traditional setting for a murder mystery and made it haunting and new. Exquisitely written and tautly plotted, this is a beautifully nuanced exploration of fraternity and loneliness, and of cowardice and courage. Literary, lyrical, with her trademark air of melancholy, We Search the Island for Grace is a deeply satisfying whodunnit from an author who is perfecting her craft’ Emma van Straaten ‘Gorgeously atmospheric and tightly plotted, this is a tender and heartfelt mystery that lingers. It’s a beautiful love story and a confounding locked-room thriller, a unique balance of gothic and intellectual elements to stir the imagination and transport you, in the way only Burke-Patel can’ Rebecca Hannigan ‘Bonnie Burke-Patel brings a fresh literary voice to the crime novel, combining an unsettling gothic island setting with exquisitely drawn characters. In We Search the Island for Grace, a search for a killer intertwines with a quest for understanding about the human condition, love and loyalty. An atmospheric and beautifully written novel’ Lucy Ashe ‘The title of this intriguing novel – “Grace” could refer to a woman or a state of mind – is evidence of its author’s nimble imagination. It’s set on an island in the Severn estuary, in a gloomy mansion that sits on the ruins of an abbey. The house is built around a stone labyrinth, a relic of occupation by the monks, and has an unsurpassed collection of medieval art. But when the owner, George Starvely, invites six men, including an archaeologist and a documentary crew, to spend Christmas in the house, it quickly becomes clear that Saints’ Climb is not a happy home. The Starvely family have secrets to hide, and George’s adult son, Xavier, has vague but sinister memories from his childhood. By the time the archaeologist recognises a depression in the soil as a shallow grave, a storm has blown in and it’s impossible to leave. This is a superb mystery in the style of Agatha Christie, its atmosphere heightened by the isolated location and the exposure of a series of concealed identities’ The Times, Joan Smith