A New York Times Bestselling Author -- Anne Perry takes us beneath the glittering surface of wealthy Victorian society into a nightmare world of fear and intimation, where women are often blamed for the violence against them, and powerful men take what they want. The horrifying rape and apparent suicide of Catherine Quixwood, wife of a wealthy merchant banker, falls outside the new jurisdiction of Special Branch head Thomas Pitt, but so pervasively offensive are the rumors about the victim that Pitt quietly takes a hand in the investigation. Yet even with the help of his ingenious wife, Charlotte, and his former superior, Victor Narraway, Pitt is stumped. And the path to the truth is deeply troubling.,
