An atmospheric historical mystery that is full of drama and unexpected twists. From the events of one seemingly ordinary afternoon, Louis Bayard conjures a tale as haunting as it is entertaining. **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