A young woman, haunted by nightmares, hides a great secret; a famous music hall star's guilty past threatens to catch up with her; and somewhere on a remote Scottish Island, a lighthouse keeper dreams of the life he was forced to leave behind. But what is the mystery that connects them all? Continuing the adventures of Smollett, Wolfstein and Bonney, the trio of unconventional Victorian detectives first introduced in The Angel of Clerkenwell, as they begin to uncover the truth about a long forgotten murder case. James Smollett, consulting detective, is now settled in Hampstead with his wife and new baby daughter, but business is not exactly booming. Hardly surprising, given that at least one of his partners in the newly formed firm seems rather distracted of late. Dr Jakob Wolfstein has a new client who threatens to disturb his settled bachelor existence and when he is injured in a music hall magic act gone wrong, things seem to go from bad to worse. Evie Bonney, meanwhile, eager to embark on a new career as a fledgling detective, finds herself facing danger as she pursues a cold blooded murderer and begins to wonder if she hasn't once again bitten off rather more than she can chew!