by Mary Stewart
First published 1985
Vanessa March expects her husband to return from his Stockholm business trip. When weeks pass without word, she grows concerned but not alarmed. Then she sees something impossible while watching a newsreel at the cinema. Her husband appears in crowd footage from Vienna, where a circus fire has made international news. He was supposed to be in Sweden conducting ordinary business. Now Vanessa knows his disappearance involves something far more dangerous than a delayed return. She travels to Vienna to find him, entering a world where circuses hide secrets and fires may not be accidents. Her search pulls her deeper into a conspiracy that threatens both their lives. What began as worry about a missing spouse becomes a race to uncover the truth before those responsible silence her permanently.
Genres: adventure, suspense, mystery, thriller
Vibes: atmospheric, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, race-against-time
Setting: Stockholm, Vienna
Period: 20th-century
Mass Market Paperback · Fawcett