Sarah Rayne, the daughter of an Irish comedy actor, began writing in her teens, including plays for the Lower Third to perform in her convent school.

Her first novel was published in 1982, and since then she has written over 30 books.  As well as being published in America and Australia, Sarah’s novels have been translated into German, Dutch, Russian and Turkish.

For many years Sarah was active in amateur theatre, and lists among her interests theatre, history, music and old houses.  This fascination with old buildings is strongly apparent in many of her settings – Infanger Cottage in Song of the Damned; the sinister watermill, Twygrist, in Spider Light, and the haunted Charect House in Property of a Lady.

Music has influenced a number of her plots: the eerie death lament, ‘Thaisa’s Song’ in The Bell Tower, the macabre ‘Dark Cadence’ in The Devil’s Harmony, and the story of the scandalous 19th century violinist, Roman Volf, in Death Notes.

But it is the theatre world of the late 19th/early 20th century that has inspired her more recent books, with the backdrop of the Victorian music hall, ‘Linklighters’ in Music Macabre, and the creation of the Amaranth Theatre for the irrepressible Fitzglen family, who make their first appearance in Book One of the ‘Theatre of Thieves’ series – Chalice of Darkness.

‘It was hard choosing just one of Rayne’s supernatural thrillers – they are all superb…’  Woman & Home

‘Totally hypnotic…  Grabs you from the start and builds to a gripping end…’  The Bookseller

 ‘Rayne spins eerie yarns within yarns like a latter-day Isak Dinesen or Wilkie Collins…’  Kirkus Reviews

‘Beautifully written with a strong protagonist and very cleverly constructed stories…’ Booklist Starred Review