Mystery Play by Elizabeth Kostova

October 19, 2026

The youngest son in a family of historians who has been hunted by dark forces associated with Dracula finds himself in peril at the hands of a new threat–a thrilling novel from the bestselling author of The Historian.When his mother passes away suddenly, Jay Turner finds himself at a crossroads. She was always secretive, raising him alone in Boston and staying single until her death. Returning to their brownstone to clear out her possessions, he finds two unusual objects: a partially burned scrap of newspaper bearing the name “Gael Brogan,” and a small antique volume bound in leather.The sight of the volume is chilling. As a young scholar, his mother had been given the medieval book–one of a set commissioned by Vlad Tepes, otherwise known as Dracula, just before his death in 1477. She’d always warned Jay of how dangerous it was, and had donated it to a museum before she died . . . yet here it sits before him.Taking leave from his position as a history instructor at a boys’ boarding school, Jay sets out to learn more about Gael Brogan, a prominent nineteenth century actor whose last and 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 he meets along the way–he uncovers a frightening story of a young actress who fell under Brogan’s sway long ago. And before long, Jay and Rhiannon realize that something similarly implacable is also pursuing them.Hypnotic and atmospheric, Mystery Play is a novel richly steeped in lore, pulsating with tension as it chronicles a dark secret history of rituals, religion, and immortality.