The master of the Golden Age detective novel displays his expertise in the historical whodunit with this Gothic tale of passion and bizarre murder, which Newsday hailed as "mystery fiction at its finest"

When headstrong young heiress Peg Ralston flees London for Versailles, her father sends dashing rake Jeffrey Wynne to bring her home from the court of England's greatest enemy. But upon their return it appears that a mysterious portrait and a child's nursery rhyme link vivacious Peg to a bawdy old seamstress who resided near London Bridge and was quite literally scared to death.

The old woman's murder is but one thread in a web of conspiracy that includes blackmail, court intrigue, and an underground club that has made a hobby out of murder. With Peg's life at stake, Wynne will do everything he can to trace the diabolical connection between the two women—and resist falling in love.