The murder of a prostitute named Ada McKinley in a bedroom on decrepit
Pentecost Alley should occasion no stir in Victoria's great metropolis,
but under the victim's body, the police find a Hellfire Club badge
inscribed with the name "Finlay Fitzjames"--a name that instantly draws
Superintendent Thomas Pitt into the case. Finlay's father--immensely
wealthy, powerful, and dangerous--refuses to consider the possibility
that his son has been in Ada McKinley's bed. The implication is clear:
Pitt is to arrest someone other than Finlay Fitzjames for Ada's demise.
But Thomas Pitt is not a man to be intimidated, and with the help of his
quick-witted wife, Charlotte, he stubbornly pursues his
investigation--one that twists and turns like London's own ancient
streets.