A lost child: On the eve of the First World War, a little girl is found abandoned on a ship to Australia. A mysterious woman called the Authoress had promised to look after her - but has disappeared without a trace. A terrible secret: On the night of her twenty-first birthday, Nell Andrews learns a secret that will change her life forever. Decades later, she embarks upon a search for the truth that leads her to the windswept Cornish coast and the strange and beautiful Blackhurst Manor, once owned by the aristocratic Mountrachet family.A mysterious inheritance: On Nell's death, her granddaughter, Cassandra, comes into an unexpected inheritance...A lost child: On the eve of the First World War, a little girl is found abandoned on a ship to Australia. A mysterious woman called the Authoress had promised to look after her - but has disappeared without a trace. A terrible secret: On the night of her twenty-first birthday, Nell Andrews learns a secret that will change her life forever. Decades later, she embarks upon a search for the truth that leads her to the windswept Cornish coast and the strange and beautiful Blackhurst Manor, once owned by the aristocratic Mountrachet family.A mysterious inheritance: On Nell's death, her granddaughter, Cassandra, comes into an unexpected inheritance. Cliff Cottage and its forgotten garden are notorious amongst the Cornish locals for the secrets they hold - secrets about the doomed Mountrachet family and their ward Eliza Makepeace, a writer of dark Victorian fairytales. It is here that Cassandra will finally uncover the truth about the family, and solve the century-old mystery of a little girl lost.
A young college president struggles to save his once prestigious alma mater, Caldwell College, from a financial scandal which may be linked to the murder of a student, some seventeen years previously. The Caldwell campus is dominated by a large bell tower known as The Spire. The Spire ornaments the school yearbook, stationary, all publications. Steeped in lore, it tolls every hour of the school day; or to mark notable events such as athletic triumphs. But in 1993, the body of Angela Hall, a black student, was found at the foot of the Spire. Raped and murdered, she seemed oddly like a sacrifice to the newly-ominous college landmark...Gripping ...A young college president struggles to save his once prestigious alma mater, Caldwell College, from a financial scandal which may be linked to the murder of a student, some seventeen years previously. The Caldwell campus is dominated by a large bell tower known as The Spire. The Spire ornaments the school yearbook, stationary, all publications. Steeped in lore, it tolls every hour of the school day; or to mark notable events such as athletic triumphs. But in 1993, the body of Angela Hall, a black student, was found at the foot of the Spire. Raped and murdered, she seemed oddly like a sacrifice to the newly-ominous college landmark...Gripping and razor-sharp, The Spire is both a hugely satisfying thriller and a poignant love story. Richard North Patterson has outdone himself - this is his most compelling novel in years.