A Victorian Murder Mystery.
Superintendent Thomas Pitt of Bow Street is up against the most sensitive and politically demanding case of his career. There is a traitor at work in the Colonial Office, passing confidential information to the German Embassy, and the expansion of the empire is at stake. The field of suspects is limited to a handful of highly distinguished public servants, all with formidable reputations to maintain, all with considerable power to defend themselves from intrusive investigations.
Simultaneously, Pitt is quietly looking into the death of his childhood mentor, who has apparently taken an overdose of laudanum. What possible connection can there be to the hidden traitor? Pitt begins to wonder if personal grief is clouding his judgement as he can find no way forward. It takes a second sensational death to reveal the tangled truth and to put at risk not only Pitt's life but that of his wife, Charlotte.
