A sweeping, haunting story of a postwar spy, two women's search for a missing friend, the hunt for a secret diary and the medieval castle high in the Austrian Alps that ties them together, decades apart. By the author of The Last Secret, an instant national bestseller.
October 1945
By day and night, Lara Rausche is a diligent Austrian maid, serving the guests of Hochfelsen, cleaning the grand rooms of the fortress and dodging the hands of SS officers on the run. But she's not who she claims to be. She's really a spy, a member of a small French resistance cell made up of a handful of brave women hellbent on exposing the war crimes of the SS and their sympathizers. At Hochfelsen, Lara watches and hears all, silently moving through the hallways of the castle, eavesdropping on conversations and making notes on the mysterious criminals staying in the Nazi safehouse-all to find out their true identities and to bring them to justice.
Late one night, the eve before Lara is set to leave, two more strangers, weary but steely, arrive at the door of the castle, seeking refuge from the elements and the authorities. Between them is a heavy box. Before it is hidden from view, the mysterious engravings on the top catch Lara's attention-as does one of men who's just shown up . . .
August 1983
When Diana, a London antiques dealer, arrives at Hochfelsen, she thinks it's to celebrate her best friend Steffi's birthday in her childhood home. But her excitement is soon replaced with shock when she realizes that she and Kit-Steffi's other best friend, the brash opposite of quiet Diana-aren't there for a happy party, but rather a sombre pagan "funeral" for Steffi that her eccentric, cold family insist upon . . . despite the fact that there is no evidence that Steffi is dead.
In a matter of moments, Diana and Kit realize all is not what it seems at Hochfelsen or within the von Baer family-and that if they want a chance at getting out of there alive, they'll need to do everything they can to find Steffi before it's too late.
With propulsive storytelling and twists that will capture your imagination, The Midnight Network is a timeless story of sisterhood, love and the power that lives within every woman.
