London, 1813. The decapitation of a wealthy plantation owner draws Sebastian St. Cyr into a macabre and perilous investigation filled with connections to seventeenth-century monarchs, the Home Secretary and a brilliantly observant spinster named Jane Austen. But as one murder follows another, it is the connection between the victims and a ruthless former army officer, Lord Oliphant, that raises the stakes. Once, Oliphant nearly destroyed Sebastian in a horrific act of betrayal. Now he poses a threat to Sebastian and everyone he holds dear.