The year is 1759, and London is shrouded in a cloak of fear. With the lawmen at the mercy of robbers and highwaymen, it's a perilous time to work the already dangerous streets of Soho. Lizzie Hardwicke is somewhat protected from the fray at Mrs Farley's Bawdy House, a reputable brothel. But then a wealthy customer is found brutally murdered... and Lizzie was the last person to see him alive.
The magistrate's assistant, William Davenport, has no hard evidence against Lizzie, but his presence and questions make life increasingly difficult. Desperate to be rid of him and prove her innocence, Lizzie turns amateur detective, determined to find the true killer, whatever the cost. Yet as the body count rises, Lizzie realises that, just like her, everyone has a secret they will do almost anything to keep buried...
Lizzie takes on an undercover assignment for the magistrate, Mr Fielding, trading Ma Farley's bawdy house in Soho for the theatre on Drury Lane. Here she finds that the drama happens as much off the stage as on it.
When one of the theatre's wealthy patrons is found brutally murdered on the stage, Lizzie is thrown together with the magistrate's investigator, William Davenport to hunt for the killer. The suspect list rivals any casting call, and Lizzie must use every trick up her sleeves to bring the culprit into the spotlight.
Published by VERVE on 6 March 2025
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Ruby Mills is ruthlessly ambitious, strikingly beautiful - and one of the Forty Thieves' most talented members.
Harriet Littlemore writes the women's section in a local newspaper. She's from a 'good' London family and engaged to an up-and-coming Member of Parliament - but she wants a successful career of her own.
After witnessing Ruby fleeing the scene of a robbery, Harriet develops a fascination with the elusive young thief that extends beyond journalistic interest. As their personal aspirations bring them into closer contact than society's rules usually allow, Ruby and Harriet's stories become increasingly intertwined.
Their magnetic dynamic, fraught with envy and desire, tells a compulsive, cinematic story about class, morality and the cost of being an independent woman in 1920s London.