The Pale Blue Eye

Soon to be a major Netflix film starring Christian Bale and Gillian Anderson

April 19th, 1831. In two or three hours I'll be dead.

So begins the chilling last testament of Gus Landor, a retired New York City police constable, whose numerous talents include code-breaking, riot control and the 'gloveless interrogation'. A young cadet has been found hanged at a military academy on the shores of the Hudson River. Before his body could be buried, however, it was stolen and his heart brutally carved out.

Fearing a scandal, the top brass at West Point have summoned Landor to help catch the culprit, and keep his discoveries away from prying eyes. As Landor embarks on a thrilling adventure to solve the case, he uncovers a series of dark secrets and finds unlikely assistance in the form of a mischievous young cadet named Edgar Allan Poe.

Full of drama and unexpected twists, The Pale Blue Eye is a brilliantly haunting and atmospheric historical mystery.

'Brilliantly plotted and completely absorbing, ending with the kind of shock that few novelists are able to deliver' Sunday Times

'Bayard's shockingly clever and devoutly unsentimental new mystery reads like a lost classic . . . Bayard reinvigorates historical fiction, rendering the 19th century as if he'd witnessed it firsthand' New York Times

Really outstanding crime fiction is rare . . . so it's a joy to see Louis Bayard pull off this coup . . . As gory and melodramatic as Poe's own writing . . . brilliantly plotted and completely absorbing, ending with the kind of shock that few novelists are able to deliver Sunday Times
Hardback fiction worth looking out for Publishing News
A most satisfying murder mystery Bookseller
Bayard's shockingly clever and devoutly unsentimental new mystery reads like a lost classic . . . Bayard reinvigorates historical fiction, rendering the 19th century as if he'd witnessed it firsthand New York Times
An immensely satisfying whodunit, richly imaginative . . . Good, clean homicidal fun -- Kate Saunders The Times
The Pale Blue Eye kept me transfixed . . . a moody, cunning mystery . . . In the course of the narrative, Bayard ingeniously weaves in motifs from Poe's work to thrilling effect Observer
A Dickensian thriller strong on atmosphere Sunday Telegraph
Louis Bayard is a writer of remarkable gifts: for language, for imagination, for that mysterious admixture of audacity and craftsmanship that signals a major talent in the making -- Joyce Carol Oates
A tour de force, an intense and gripping novel . . . This beautifully crafted thriller stands head and shoulders above other recent attempts to fictionalise Poe Publishers Weekly
In THE PALE BLUE EYE, Louis Bayard pays a stunning and fitting tribute to Edgar Allan Poe - not only in his crafting of a twisty, Gothic mystery that would have delighted the master himself, but in his use of a young Poe as a character. A gorgeous, melancholic tale from a fearless writer. I can't wait to see what Bayard does next -- Laura Lipman, author of TO THE POWER OF THREE
Dazzling Scotsman
A fictional mystery in a real historical background Sunday Telegraph
PRAISE FOR THE FILM
A Netflix historical thriller stuffed with Gothic flourishes Financial Times
An appealingly icy, moody, twisty, Gothic fiction work rooted in the same themes that Poe explored Flickering Myth
The Pale Blue Eye is all at once a melancholic romance, arevenger's tragedy, and an intriguing mystery Little White Lies
A thrilling whodunnit with an irresistible gothic mood The Upcoming
Moves with elegant severity, like a film about 19th-century murder should Independent
The Pale Blue Eye feels both fresh and reminiscent of the golden age of the Western drama Jewish Chronicle
As cozy as a blanket of thorns - but then, you don't go to Poe for a good cuddle, and The Pale Blue Eye gets that. This is one foreboding snow globe of a movie Time Magazine

Louis Bayard lives in Washington. He has written several novels, including THE PALE BLUE EYE which was shortlisted for the CWA Ellis Peters Historical Crime Award.

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