Amidst the gas-lit streets of 1870 London, twenty-two-year-old Tamsin's world is shattered when she discovers her beloved uncle, a retired Lieutenant Detective for Her Majesty, dead at his desk. It is midnight and sounds from her uncle's library woke her.

Determined to uncover the truth behind his untimely demise, Tamsin embarks on a perilous journey of deception and investigation. With the clock ticking and suspicion mounting, she must navigate the dangerous labyrinth of Victorian society to unmask a killer lurking in the shadows. A killer who may take her life as well. Perhaps a killer who is close to her.

Finding a welcome ally in Harrison Spenser, a criminal law student, whom her uncle mentored, Tamsin and Harrison race against time to unravel the secrets of her uncle's final moments.

Can the two amateur sleuths uncover the sinister truths hiding behind the facade of respectability, or will the secrets of Uncle Basil's demise be buried forever?