After achieving her lifelong dream of solving a murder, Beatrice Steele feels like everything is finally falling into place. Accompanied by her ever-trusty chaperone, Miss Bolton, she's traded her small town for London and opened a new office with prickly, annoyingly logical Inspector Drake to solve the city's brutally thrilling crimes.

However, nothing is turning out how Beatrice imagined it would. Famed gentleman inspector Sir Huxley is considered the real investigator in London, so the only cases left for Beatrice and Drake are lost pets and spectacles. Not that Beatrice has much time for crime-solving, anyways, as her mother still expects her to find an eligible husband to protect their family from destitution.

That is until a string of murders thrusts Beatrice and Drake into the center of a scandal that spreads fear and chaos throughout the city. As they follow the trail through bewildering ballrooms, secretive shops, and odd operas, Beatrice must break the case--before it's too late.