The Man on the Endless Stair, the debut novel by Chris Barkley, has been described as “a unique mystery within the [locked-room] genre.”

In the review, which you can read in full here, Maureen Stapleton writes:

“The Man on the Endless Stair by Chris Barkley is a locked-room mystery with a twist. The remote location is a Scottish island accessible only by water (the ferry runs only a few days a week), the victim is successful novelist Malcolm Furnivall, and the suspects are those who he called together: family members, neighbours, staff, his solicitor and Euan, his protégé.”

When troubled but talented young author Euan meets decorated novelist Malcolm Furnivall, he feels his luck has finally changed. Malcolm takes Euan as a protégé, inviting him to spend time on his secluded island in the Hebrides, nurturing his skills, and vouching for him in the rarefied literary scene of the 1950s.

But lately, Malcolm has not been himself. He cuts an increasingly isolated figure, consumed by his work, and has become convinced that something strange and terrible will befall him. Sensing the end, he summons his loved ones and—to everyone’s surprise—entrusts Euan with the task of completing his masterpiece.

Malcom’s suspicions soon prove well-founded; he is discovered brutally murdered in his study, and his invaluable unfinished novel has vanished. Cut off from the mainland, with the killer on the loose and the island’s inhabitants circling, Euan feels both his mentor’s legacy and his only chance at greatness slipping away—he must venture deep into Malcolm’s labyrinthine mansion to find the manuscript before it falls into the wrong hands.

But what he doesn’t yet know is that the closer he comes to solving the mystery, the tighter he will bind himself to a fate sealed in time…

The Man on the Endless Stair is available now in the UK and available for pre-order in the US. Grab your UK copy here or, better, via your local bookshop and Bookshop.org. Pre-order your US copy here.

Follow Chris on Twitter @TufferBarkley and on Instagram @tufferbarkley.