When Peggy O'Reilly steps off the Wexford train, she dreams of a fresh start. Within days, she's vanished into Dublin's shadows, and soon the search for a missing girl has become a hunt for a killer...

Dublin, 1894. Lucy Lawrence arrives in Ireland expecting a pleasant summer holiday while her husband Phineas investigates security at Dublin Castle. But when her maid's young cousin disappears and is found murdered in the notorious Monto red-light district, Lucy cannot stand idly by, especially when the girl's sister is still missing.

In Merrion Square, banker Myles Carver grieves his dying wife with his beautiful daughter-in-law Olivia. In the Monto's brothels, madam Celine Burton rules through violence and fear. Between these two worlds stands Detective Inspector Fergus Ryan, hunting a killer while the powerful protect their secrets. As bodies mount and time runs out, Lucy must decide who to trust in a city full of contradictions.

From sumptuous drawing rooms to squalid brothels the police dare not enter, this is a gripping Victorian mystery and a thrilling addition to the bestselling Lucy Lawrence series.