The Birdcage Library [Paperback]

Spanning Gilded Age New York society to the 1930s Scottish Highlands, this gothic novel is a mystery within a mystery, featuring a compelling heroine, an engrossing puzzle with fiendish clues, and not one but three big twists.

It’s 1932: Scottish adventuress and plant-hunter (and surviving twin) Emily Blackwood, now living in Australia, accepts a commission from Heinrich Vogel, a former dealer of exotic animals in Manhattan. Vogel now lives with his macabre collection of taxidermy in a remote Scottish castle. Emily is tasked with finding a long-lost treasure that Heinrich believes has been hidden within the castle walls. But instead, she discovers the pages of a diary written by Hester Vogel, who died after falling from the Brooklyn Bridge on the eve of its opening in 1883. Hester's diary leads Emily to an old book,The Birdcage Library,and into a treasure hunt of another kind—one that will take her down a dangerous path for clues, and force her to confront her own darkest secret . . .Freya Berrystudied English literature at Trinity College, Cambridge, graduating with honors, and worked for several years as a financial and political journalist at Reuters and then theDaily Mail.The Dictator's Wife, her debut novel, was inspired by the close observation of the wives of some of the world’s most powerful leaders. It was a BBC2 Between the Covers pick and shortlisted for the Authors’ Club Best First Novel award.The Birdcage Librarywas an Amazon UK Book of the Year 2023 Editor’s Pick. Berry is British-Indian and lives in London.EXCERPT
Welcome, dear reader. You have found me, and I you. The diary you hold in your hands is a treasure map. It will lead you to what you ought to seek. Like all such maps, the trail is cryptic. The reason for this is simple. The man I love is trying to kill me.

Chapter One
Every life has its own lie. I thinklC?