May, 1890. Wolcott Balestier, the representative of an American book publisher, has arrived in London on a singular mission - to contract English authors for their latest works. When Balestier disappears on the streets of London one day, his great friend - Rudyard Kipling - bursts into Enola's office looking for help in finding him. Brash and unwilling to hire a young woman, instead he turns to Sherlock Holmes. Convinced that evil has befallen Balestier, at the hands of rival American publishers who pirate the works of English authors, he sets the elder Holmes on the trail.

But Enola is determined to learn the truth behind the disappearance of the young American. Can book publishing truly be so deadly?