Summer 1780. England, Sussex. Harriet Westerman (her estate borders the property of Thornley Castle, the home of the Earl of Sussex himself) discovers a dead man in her grove, and with him the coat of arms of the Thornley family. She has long felt the evil coming from her neighbors, but this time she firmly decides: it’s time to restore justice. She manages to call upon a local hermit, anatomist Gabriel Crowder, for help. On the same day in London, a certain Alexander Adams dies at the hands of a murderer, and his two children are left orphans. Harriet and Crowder manage to connect these crimes and punish the culprits, even if the inhabitants of Thornley Castle constantly obstruct them... "The Instruments of Darkness" is an exquisite historical novel about terrible family secrets, unbridled passions, friendship and love, taking the reader into the dark reality of the Georgian era.< /p>