The Story Keeper
A dark tale of folklore and disappearances on the Isle of Skye.
Audrey Hart travels to Skye and to the mansion of a reclusive folklorist to collect the folk and fairy tales of the local people. It is 1857, the Highland Clearances have left devastation and poverty, and the crofters are suspicious and hostile, claiming they no longer know their stories.
Then Audrey discovers the body of a young girl washed up in the bay beneath Lanerly, and the crofters reveal that it is only a matter of weeks since another girl disappeared. They believe the girls are victims of the restless dead: spirits who take the form of birds.
At first, Audrey suspects that the girls are being abducted, but as events accumulate she begins to wonder if something else is at work. Something which may be linked to the death of her own mother, many years before.

Reviews
‘Casts its own powerful brand of own dark magic’ – SUNDAY MIRROR
‘A twisty, atmospheric crime story’ – DAILY MAIL
‘Filled with narrative drive and energy’ – THE SUNDAY TIMES
‘The book has the wonderfully creepy flavour of the work of Victorian suspense novelists like Sheridan Le Fanu – SUNDAY EXPRESS
‘A riveting Gothic-flavoured story’ – WOMAN & HOME
‘As eerie and atmospheric as it is enthralling and beautiful’ – HEAT
‘A must-read novel’ – THE SUN
‘An atmospheric and eerie read’ – PRIMA
‘Gripping Gothic thriller’ – BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE
‘An atmospheric, suspenseful mystery which makes a compelling read.’ – HISTORICAL NOVEL REVIEW
‘A chilling and refreshingly inventive Gothic novel that constantly subverts the reader’s expectations.’ – ANDREW TAYLOR
‘Daphne Du Maurier fans will be hugging this to their chests. A compelling mystery drenched with atmosphere’ – LAURA PURCELL (The Silent Companions)
‘Darkly Gothic and soaked in atmosphere’ – RACHEL RHYS/TAMMY COHEN (Dangerous Crossing)
‘A fierce and poignant novel, about superstitions & everything they conceal’. – BETH UNDERDOWN (The Witchfinder’s Sister)
‘Intoxicating. And creepy. And compulsive. I loved it!’ – ALI LAND (Good Me, Bad Me)
‘Creepy and compelling.’ – SARAH HILARY
‘Wonderfully dark, atmospheric and utterly captivating’ – ROWAN COLEMAN

The Inspiration
Rather than base the novel on the real case, as I had done with The Unseeing, I decided to transport it to a different place, a place where fairy belief was still alive and well.



The Setting
Although The Story Keeper is very much a work of fiction, the accounts given of the Clearances of Suisnish and Boreraig are based on real accounts of the brutal and heartbreaking scenes that took place as families were forcibly driven from their homes. You can read more here.

The Stories
The fairy tale that runs through the novel is my own invention, inspired by the dark and peculiar Celtic fairy tales that I’ve used to terrify my own children. Many are available here.

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My literary agent is Juliet Mushens at Caskie Mushens.
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