Clearing out her possessions after his mother dies, Jay Turner stumbles on a charred scrap of newspaper bearing the name Gael Brogan. Soon after, a deliveryman drops off a package containing an old leatherbound book - and leaves two bloody footprints. Jay recognises the book. It was commissioned by Vlad Tepes, better known as Dracula, just before his death in 1477. His mother had always warned Jay how dangerous it was and had donated it to a museum.yet here it is. Jay sets out to learn more about Gael Brogan, a nineteenth-century actor whose most famous role was the Count himself in Bram Stoker's Dracula. As Jay begins to dig deeper - helped by a mysterious woman named Rhiannon whom he meets in traumatic circumstances - he uncovers the terrifying story of a young actress falling under Brogan's sway.

And then Jay and Rhiannon realise that something implacable is also pursuing them. Hypnotic and riveting, Elizabeth Kostova's Mystery Play pulsates with tension as it reveals a story of ancient evil.