A secluded island. A murdered genius. A missing masterpiece.

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, vouching for him in the rarefied literary scene in the 1950s. But lately, Malcolm has not been himself. Consumed by his work, he cuts an increasingly isolated figure and has become convinced that something terrible will befall him. He summons his loved ones to his secluded island in the Hebrides and – to everyone's surprise – entrusts Euan with the task of completing his masterpiece.

Malcolm'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 . . .

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'An eerie, deeply atmospheric tale of hidden treasure and trauma'

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'Cleverly plotted and elegantly crafted, The Man on the Endless Stair is an impressive and compelling debut'

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'[a] fantastical, page-turning locked room mystery'

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'A twist on the classic locked-room mystery'

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'a thoroughly engaging and enjoyable read... the genre itself is warped in a truly innovative way'

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'An intoxicating mystery and a clever study of familial relationships'

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'The Man On The Endless Stair sees the beautiful Scottish Isles as remote, picturesque and the perfect backdrop for a murder mystery'

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'a scintillating debut novel... It slow-creeps to a truly revelatory climax, one that manages to be emotionally satisfying, thrilling in terms of plot, and mind-bending in its implications'

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'The Edinburgh-based Barkley... has produced such a confident debut novel – its air of mystery so pervasive, its prose so elegant and well-crafted... This mysterious Hebridean whodunnit deserves to be a hit'

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'Well-regarded debut set on a secluded island in a labyrinthine mansion'

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'Barkley’s debut novel is a potent brew of classic tropes and modern psychodrama. His characters are vividly drawn, and he succeeds in creating a claustrophobic atmosphere that envelops both them and us until it feels like we all have a tainted past that cannot be shirked'

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'Barkley's engaging prose transports readers to a different time and place, one laden with urgency and imminent danger. The beauty of this book is the delicate narrative balance that Barkley strike. . . The conclusion is a humdinger, a mind-blowing fever dream that will leave readers' heads spinning'