The Dark Library - by Mary Anna Evans

About the Book

"Dr. Estella Ecker is the second-ever female professor in her department at the local university where her late father used to teach. After the department chair's suicide, Estella notices her colleagues have begun treating her differently, with more respect and with her father's name often on their lips. Why do the men in her department still seem to fear him? How could he possibly be connected to the recent suicide? Once she finds out the truth, she'll know what to do. But will she be able to live with herself after she does it? She is, after all, her father's daughter"--

Book Synopsis

"Evans delivers an elaborate historical mystery...fans of gothic suspense will be delighted."--Publishers Weekly

"A fascinating and intelligent WWII home front story." --Rhys Bowen, New York Times bestselling author for The Physicists' Daughter

Can a family's dark history repeat itself?

Estella Ecker has returned to Rockfall House, the last place on earth she wants to be. Years after she ran away from her overbearing father, she has been forced back home to walk in his footsteps, teaching at the college he dominated and living in the fabulous home where he entertained artists and scholars for decades--and perhaps she owns it now, because her mercurial mother has disappeared. At the center of everything--the whispers, the rumors, the secrets--is her father's library of rare books, which she had been forbidden to touch while he was alive to stop her.

Everyone in town is watching Estella, with her dead father's name on their lips, and no one seems to care about her missing mother. Who were her parents, really, and is the answer hidden somewhere in the depths of Rockfall House? And who will Estella be, if she gathers enough courage to find that answer? What she will discover is that no one can escape the secrets hidden in this dark library.

Suspenseful and unsettling but ultimately triumphant, The Dark Library by acclaimed author Mary Anna Evans is a compelling tale of mystery, family secrets, and the quest for truth.

Review Quotes

"Evans delivers an elaborate historical mystery...fans of gothic suspense will be delighted."--Publishers Weekly

"Unexpected allies, false and true friends, and bitter revelations about the past and present all lead to the dramatic 'act of God' ending that such a story requires. Great fun!"--firstCLUE

"An immersive and fast-paced historical thriller, with a sophisticated twist. E is a main character with a fabulous voice who you would want as a friend." -- Stacie Grey, author of She Left and She Didn't Stand a Chance

"Mary Anna Evans plunges us into a deceptively peaceful Hudson Valley village in the midst of wartime where all is not what it appears and the intrepid and bookish heroine must decipher a labyrinthine trail of secrets and lies. As stunning and breathtaking as a walk along the Hudson Highlands, The Dark Library had me reading late into the dark hours." -- Carol Goodman, two-time winner of the Mary Higgins Clark Prize and author of Return to Wyldcliffe Heights