London, 1813. The beheading of a wealthy plantation owner on the Bridge of Blood draws Sebastian Saint-Cyr into a gruesome and dangerous investigation. Near the corpse was found a lead strip with the inscription "KING CHARLES, 1648", possibly indicating a connection between the present murder and the execution of a seventeenth-century monarch. Equally troubling, the victim's relationship with the Home Secretary arouses the interest of Sebastian's father-in-law, Lord Jarvis, who is willing to use any means to achieve his secret goals. With the help of Gero's wife, Sebastian compiles a motley list of suspects: from an eccentric collector of various curiosities to the brother of an extremely an observant spinster named Jane Austen. One murder follows another, and the victims' revealed connection with a ruthless retired colonel, Lord Oliphant, increases the risk to the deadly. One day, Oliphant almost destroyed Sebastian by plotting an insidious betrayal. Now he threatens not only Sebastian himself, but everything—and everyone—that he holds dear.