Murder becomes personal for Lord Riley Rochester when his sergeant’s daughter is caught standing over the corpse of her former employer. She’s covered in blood and has the murder weapon clutched in her hands. Riley knows that Maureen Salter is incapable of committing murder but is also aware that if he shows her any favouritism then his detractors will seize the opportunity to undermine his position as one of Scotland Yard’s leading detectives.
As Riley and Salter delve deep into the world of Victorian London’s millinery trade, they discover professional jealousies and personal resentments that cast suspicion upon a widening circle of rivals and family members, none of whom mourn the loss of the victim. Lied to and misled at every turn, can Riley get to the truth and discover who had the most compelling reason to commit this most vicious of murders, thereby saving his own reputation and that of his stalwart sergeant.