As I prepare to depart London for my upcoming wedding, I’m interrupted by my neighbor, Marianne Simmons, who is concerned about an actress friend who’s gone missing. I agree to help search for her friend, little realizing that the endeavor will bring me against dangerous men who think nothing of abduction and blackmail, or indeed of sending incendiary devices to the innocent.
My instincts tell me the actress is in true danger, but my life is changing, and my time for investigation is frequently and frustratingly interrupted. I am also now commanded by a coldly determined Bow Street Runner to assist in bringing down James Denis, a criminal with whom I now have complicated ties, or risk hanging with him.
The search for the actress takes us from the assembly rooms of the upper-classes to behind the scenes at the Royal Theatre in Drury Lane, where I find darkness in all corners. My life and honor are constantly challenged as my circumstances change, and I realize that, in the end, I can follow no code but my own.