by Alan Bradley
Part of Flavia de Luce
First published 2026
A nun has died at Golgotha House, the convent within sight of Buckshaw. When the Sisters prepare the body for burial, they make a startling discovery. Their fellow religious has concealed her true identity for years. The reasons behind her deception remain murky, as does the dark past she fled from. Flavia de Luce takes on the case through her detective agency, Arthur Dogger & Associates. Working alongside her trusted partner Dogger, she must navigate the watchful disapproval of the Mother Superior. The investigation reveals a crime committed decades earlier and a secret stretching across an ocean. But deception also lurks much closer to home. Flavia faces the challenge of piecing together a woman's stolen life while surrounded by the cloistered world of the convent. The mystery forces her to confront how people reinvent themselves to escape their past, and what drives someone to live a complete lie until death.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, mystery, adult-fiction, british-literature, detective
Vibes: atmospheric, contemplative, introspective, mysterious, suspenseful
Tropes: amateur-detective, hidden-identity, mystery-investigation, secrets-revealed
Setting: Golgotha House, Buckshaw, convent
Period: 20th-century
256 pages · Hardcover · Bantam
Content warnings: death