Essex, 1871
The last time Coventry Adams departed London, she was an earl's daughter, innocent and hopeful, with a bright future awaiting her. Now an older, wiser, much tougher woman, she goes on an errand of justice. A dashing young gentleman's beloved cousin has mysteriously died, as have the two women hired to care for the dead woman's children. He asks Coventry to take the open position as governess so she can ferret out the truth.
Coventry leaves the soot-stained, foggy city streets for the green, sunlit Essex downs. But beneath the bright blue sky, all is not well. The grim house of Shadowfell is haunted by tragic memories and thick with dark secrets. Lord Dwimmerloch is a brooding, passionate, dangerous man. The children are troubled. Death stalks the halls and ghostly shapes prowl the grounds by night.
Beset on all sides, unsure whom to trust, Coventry must rely on her experience as a London thief as much as on her upper-class education. With her only firm ally a former pickpocket and rogue, she will need every scrap of wits, agility, and luck to save the innocents under her care from a terrible fate.