London, 1955. When crime writer Donald Langham's literary agent asks for his help in sorting out 'a delicate matter', little does Langham realize what he's getting himself into. For a nasty case of blackmail leads inexorably to murder as London's literary establishment is rocked by series of increasingly bizarre deaths.

"1910: Twenty-five-year-old Daniel Pitt is a junior barrister in London and eager to prove himself, independent of his renowned detective father's influence. And the new case before him will be the test. When his client, arrogant biographer Russell Graves, is found guilty of murdering his wife, Daniel is dispatched by his superior to find the real killer before Graves faces the hangman's noose-- in only twenty-one days. Could the violent death have...

"You shouldn't be here. It's too late . . . " These, heard over the phone, were the last recorded words of successful celebrity-divorce lawyer Richard Pryce, found bludgeoned to death in his bachelor pad with a bottle of wine - a 1982 Chateau Lafite worth 3,000, to be precise. Odd, considering he didn't drink. Why this bottle? And why those words? And why was a three-digit number painted on the wall by the killer? And, most importantly, which of the...

"Fitness trainer Erik Lingoss is found dead in his west London flat, his head smashed by one of his own dumbbells. His heartlessly-dumped girlfriend, blood on her clothes and hands, is the prime suspect. She had means, opportunity, and motive. But is the case as clear-cut as it seems? Handsome Erik Lingoss had clients in high places; and he seemed to engender powerful emotions. If it was a crime of passion, there was plenty of that to go round: love...

Deep in London's dangerous slums, Victorians transact their most secret and shameful business. For a price, a man can procure whatever he wants r one such man, the price he pays is his life. In sunless Water Lane, respected solicitor Leighton Duff lies dead, kicked and beaten to death. Beside him is the barely living body of his son, Rhys. The police cannot fathom these brutal assaults until shrewd investigator William Monk, aided by nurse-turned-sleuth...

Witnessing the fatal defenestration of neighbor Jacob Harley while caroling in 1835 London, young Charles Dickens and his fiancaee, Kate, disagree about the case's chief suspect, Emmanuel Screws, an unpleasant counting-house codger with a rather colorfulimagination.

"A high-profile murder propels a unique crime-fighting team into the dark environs of London's underworld--and on a terrifying quest to track a ruthless killer"-- Provided by publisher.