In December 1978, the doors to the First Bank of Cleveland were closed, chained and locked up tight in the middle of the night, leaving furniture, furnishings and files exactly as they were when the employees left for the day. With a federal investigation eminent in light of fraud allegations, the bank was sold to a holding company. Safe deposit boxes went unopened and their contents unclaimed. While other abandoned downtown buildings were gutted and stripped clean, the bank was frozen in time with everything intact, including an armed guard on duty for 20 years.

In 1998, an anonymous buyer of the historic building has requested a feasibility study to determine if it is safe for renovation or if it should be torn down. Inexperienced engineer Iris Latch is primary drafter of the structure working on site full time. Her job is to sketch out blueprints, but the more time she spends in the haunting building's many rooms, the more puzzles she encounters. When she discovers a key numbered 547 in a desk drawer, Iris is determined to find the key's owner by searching other desks and file cabinets for clues. The more she probes the bank contents left behind, the more involved she becomes with ghosts from the past, along with all the riddles and deep dark secrets hidden inside.

THE DEAD KEY by D. M. Pulley is an exciting mystery with a perfectly crafted premise. Utilization of flashbacks to 1978, as well as finely detailed descriptive prose, gives a true feel for the old bank building and the past era. The suspense is tautly maintained until the surprising conclusion, making D. M. Pulley's debut a great read.