The Fourteenth Letter
London 1881. A bride is murdered on at her engagement party, setting in chain a twisting, riveting mystery full of memorable characters in Claire Evans' dramatic debut novel perfect for fans of Kate Mosse's Labyrinth, Carlos Ruiz Zafon's The Shadow of the Wind and Jessie Burton's The Miniaturist.
Phoebe Stanbury was killed in the summer of secrets...
One balmy June evening in 1881, Phoebe Stanbury stands before the guests at her engagement party: this is her moment, when she will join the renowned Raycraft family and ascend to polite society. As she takes her fiance's hand, a stranger holding a knife steps forward and ends the poor girl's life. Amid the chaos, he turns to her aristocratic groom and mouths: 'I promised I would save you.' The following morning, just a few miles away, timid young legal clerk William Lamb meets a reclusive client. He finds the old man terrified and in desperate need of aid: William must keep safe a small casket of yellowing papers, and deliver an enigmatic message: The Finder knows.