April 19th, 1831. In two or three hours I'll be dead. So begins the chilling last testament of Gus Landor, a retired New York City police constable, whose numerous talents include code-breaking, riot control and the 'gloveless interrogation'.

A young cadet has been found hanged at a military academy on the shores of the Hudson River. Before his body could be buried, however, it was stolen and his heart brutally carved out. Fearing a scandal, the top brass at West Point have summoned Landor to help catch the culprit, and keep his discoveries away from prying eyes.

As Landor embarks on a thrilling adventure to solve the case, he uncovers a series of dark secrets and finds unlikely assistance in the form of a mischievous young cadet named Edgar Allan Poe. Full of drama and unexpected twists, The Pale Blue Eye is a brilliantly haunting and atmospheric historical mystery. 'Brilliantly plotted and completely absorbing, ending with the kind of shock that few novelists are able to deliver' Sunday Times'Bayard's shockingly clever and devoutly unsentimental new mystery reads like a lost classic .