The nineteenth novel in Anne Perry's highly acclaimed mystery series featuring Thomas Pitt

When a man is found murdered on the doorstep of a respectable house in Bedford Square, Victorian England's finest and most controversial policeman, Thomas Pitt, is called immediately to the scene. The only clue to the victim's identity is a silver snuff box found on the body, curiously at odds with the man's dishevelled appearance. Pitt soon discovers that the box, and the house where the body was found, belong to General Balantyne, a man Pitt knows to be a pillar of the community. He is dismayed to learn that Balantyne can barely recall the evening, let alone account for his movements.

"Give her a good murder and a shameful social evil, and Anne Perry can write a Victorian mystery that would make Dickens' eyes pop out" - New York Times Book Review

"Beautifully crafted" - Cosmopolitan

"Her Victorian England pulsates with life and is peopled with wonderfully memorable characters" - Faye Kellerman

"The novel has a totally contemporary feel and is admirably well-written" - Guardian

"A complex plot supported by superb storytelling" - Scotland on Sunday