The Orphanage on the Cliff

Dorset, 1891. St. Bevan's Orphanage stands on a cliff above a beach that only exists at low tide. When the matron dies, the trustees send a young inspector to audit the books. Charlotte Ellery finds what she expected: neat columns, careful handwriting, a tidy institution. She also finds a second ledger, where children's names are entered and then struck through. Every struck name has a body on the beach below. Every body was ruled an accident. The children will not speak. The doctor will not meet her eye. And one small girl has drawn her a map of a room that does not exist. A Victorian historical mystery and an absolutely unputdownable psychological thriller, about an institution that kept perfect records of everything it destroyed.