‘Twist follows twist and nothing is what it seems’ ALEX MICHAELIDES

‘Exhilarating, addictive, fierce’ BRIDGET COLLINS

‘A psychological thriller you can’t put down’ HARLAN COBEN

‘Dark, Gothic, and propulsively readable’ RUTH WARE

‘A dark and richly enjoyable novel that already feels like a classic’ ELLY GRIFFITHS

* * * * *

Now I’m in charge, the gates are my gates. The rules are my rules.

It’s an incendiary moment for St Oswald’s school. For the first time in its history, a headmistress is in power, the gates opening to girls.

Rebecca Buckfast has spilled blood to reach this position. Barely forty, she is just starting to reap the harvest of her ambition. As the new regime takes on the old guard, the ground shifts. And with it, the remains of a body are discovered.

But Rebecca is here to make her mark. She’ll bury the past so deep it will evade even her own memory, just like she has done before. After all…

You can’t keep a good woman down.

* * * * *

Praise for Joanne Harris’s other books set in the St Oswald’s world:

‘A masterpiece of misdirection’ Val McDermid

‘Delivers an almighty twist … brilliantly atmospheric ’ The Times

‘[A] gripping psychological thriller … Harris is one of our most accomplished novelists’ Daily Express

‘[A] delicious black comedy’ Daily Mail