It is now 1811. Lady Zoe Demas, who escaped with her mother from the French Revolution, has just returned to London after several months in America accompanied by her brother Sebastion, her companion, Mary Fletcher, and her dog Brutus along with his caretaker Gwen, a former street urchin.

Her friend Mabel Anderson, whose sister Margot was murdered, has asked her to call and then asks Zoe for help finding the killer.

Zoe turns to her former investigative partner, Quinton Huxley, who apparently has gone off the rails while Zoe was gone, because the murder seems to be similar to that of Quinton's mother ten years ago.

One of Quinton childhood friends has been accused of the murder. Quinton and his friends, Gwen's brother Ezra, and Zoe and her barrister stepfather work together to clear the accused and find the real murderer.

As with the previous book "The Ties That Divide," I enjoyed this entry and hope there are more. And I would really like to know what happened to Zoe and her group during their American interlude.