'Grisly, addictive fun . . . I devoured it in 24 hours' – Emilia Hart, author of Weyward

In deepest winter, beware the coldest hearts . . .

London, 1850. Constance Horton has disappeared.

Maude, her older sister, knows only that Constance abandoned the apothecary they call home, and, disguised as a boy, boarded a ship bound for the Arctic. She never returned. ‘A tragic accident’, the Admiralty called it. But Maude Horton knows something isn’t right.

When she finds Constance’s journal, it becomes clear that the truth is being buried by sinister forces. To find answers – and deliver justice for her sister – Maude must step into London’s dark underbelly, and into the path of dangerous, powerful men. The kind of men who seek their fortune in the city’s horrors, from the hangings at Newgate to the ghoulish waxworks of Madame Tussaud’s.

It is a perilous task. But Maude has dangerous skills of her own . . .

'Brilliant! Stuffed with adventure' - Stuart Turton, author of The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
'A gripping adventure story' - Emma Stonex, author of The Lamplighters
'Victorian gothic at its very very best' - Susan Stokes-Chapman, author of Pandora

"Brilliant . . . Pook’s masterful pacing and meticulous attention to historical detail make this sing. Fans of Stuart Tarton’s high seas whodunits will be rapt" - Publisher's Weekly

"A spellbinding novel set in the frozen Arctic and in London during the height of murder mania…. Pook paints a macabre image of a time when death was often more valuable than life itself" - Kirkus

"Stellar . . . Pook once again weaves a rousing tale around the escapades of a bold, spirited, and cunning woman" - Booklist

"Gripping . . . an entertaining tale of adventure and dark goings-on" - Good Housekeeping

"A lively and engaging read" - The Times

"A rollicking historical adventure . . . a protagonist you’ll be rooting for from the first page to the last . . . terrific" - Criminal Element