A dying challenge. A blood‑stained name. A mystery that refuses to stay buried.

London is no stranger to scandal, but when journalist Theodolphus Burke summons author and amateur sleuth Mikaela Forsythe with an urgent note—only to be found bleeding to death outside a pub—the case becomes personal. Burke was no friend to Mikaela; he mocked her work, belittled her investigations, and delighted in provoking enemies through his ruthless exposés of London’s darkest secrets.

As he lies dying, Burke presses a note into Mikaela’s hand bearing a single woman’s name—and a final, taunting question: What will you do now, Mikaela Forsythe?

Determined to uncover the truth, Mikaela and her partner Brodie are drawn into a new inquiry that cuts through every layer of society, from shadowed streets to privileged drawing rooms. Who was the woman named in blood? Why did Burke reach out to Mikaela of all people? And who wanted the Times’ most notorious reporter silenced forever?

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