Paul Graves is no stranger to evil. As a boy, he witnessed the torture and murder of his sister. As a man, he constantly relives evil, tirelessly writing mysteries set in gaslight New York, a world coloured by his own past.
It is a far cry from Riverwood, the artist` community in upstate New York, where Graves is invited to spend the summer. And yet, for all its beauty and isolation, Riverwood was once touched by crime – the murder of Faye Harrison, a teenage girl who had lived on the estate fifty years before.
When Graves is asked to investigate the murder it is more than just the exploration of long-past crime: he must apply the art of mystery fiction to the murder, then write a story that will enable Faye` s mother finally to find peace.
Instruments of Night is not only a mystery of rare depth and beauty; it is a story that confronts the inexplicable allure of murder …