Summary

In the Prologue, told by an omniscient narrator in the present tense, it is twelve days before Holly Mackey, Julia Harte, Rebecca “Becca” O’Mara, and Selena Wynne begin their time as boarders at St. Kilda’s, an elite school for girls. Holly, in particular, is excited because it is the first time she has been a boarder.

In Chapter 1, which is told in the past tense from the first-person view of Detective Stephen Moran, details how Holly brought him a card she claimed she had found on a noticeboard at school. Moran knew Holly not only because her father was a detective with undercover, but also because Holly had been a witness in a murder case several years prior.

The card referred to the murder of Christopher “Chris” Harper, a boy who had been found dead from a wound to the...