The Bell Tower
by Sarah Rayne

A 400-year-old crime continues to menace the present …

When Nell West starts extending her Oxford antiques shop, she is not expecting to uncover strange fragments of its past: fragments that include a frightened message scribbled on old plasterwork, dated 1850 and referring to someone called Thaisa.

She also uncovers a mysterious link with a village on the Dorset coast – a village with an ancient bell tower and dark memories of a piece of music known locally as Thaisa’s Song. The sea is gradually encroaching on the derelict tower, but the old Glaum Bell still hangs in the lonely bell chamber and although it was silenced after an act of appalling brutality during the reign of Henry VIII, local people whisper that its chime is still occasionally heard.

As Nell and Michael Flint discover, the tower is mysteriously entangled with the story of Thaisa and a 400-year-old tragedy that has echoed down the centuries.

Reviews

The haunted-house theme is one of the most venerable in the genre, and Rayne has given it new life in this series, drawing again and again on the secrets (and the horrors) contained within structures built originally to keep us safe

Booklist Starred Review

Rayne tells a modern-day ghost story with a distinctly gothic feel. . . Fans of the series will have a great time, and, since it isn’t necessary to have read the previous books, newcomers can jump right in

Booklist on Deadlight Hall

This is horror with a definite gothic feel: a remote, isolated house; family secrets; a mysterious stranger dark; shadows; and a generally ominous, unsettling feeling. Highly enjoyable mainstream horror fare from a genre veteran

Booklist on The Whispering

Sarah Rayne

Sarah Rayne is the author of many novels of psychological and supernatural suspense, including the Nell West & Michael Flint series, the Phineas Fox mysteries and the Theatre of Thieves mysteries. She lives in Staffordshire.

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Editions

The Bell Tower by Sarah Rayne is available in the following formats

Hardback978072788559330th October 2015147 X 224mm240£21.99
Ebook97817801072261st February 2016N/A240$14.99
Ebook97817801072261st February 2016N/A240£4.99
Paperback978184751668829th July 2016140 X 216mm240£13.99
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