When a girl is murdered at a factory in London, Sergeant Thaddeus Knight of the Metropolitan Police comes in to investigate. But it's not just the factory owners that Thaddeus wants information on--the devilishly intriguing Poppy O'Reilly is a puzzle he'd like nothing more than to solve. All it took was one scandal for Poppy to lose her reputation. Shunned by polite society, she's retreated to the one place no one from her old life would look for her: the rookeries. Protecting her young daughter is the most important thing to Poppy, and Thaddeus threatens the false identity she's carefully constructed. The last thing she should do is allow Thaddeus close to her family, yet she can't stay away from him. With danger around the corner, will the secrets of a scarlet woman lead to their undoing?