"Her grasp of Victorian character and conscience still astonishes," said the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Hundreds of thousands of readers in Europe and America agree.

Anne Perry lives in Scotland.

(Book 25 in the Thomas Pitt series)

Pitt is woken by his boss, Narraway, very early in the morning. He's got to investigate the murder of a maid. 'Can't one of the more junior policemen go to the scene of the crime? ', grumbles Pitt. It's at Buckingham Palace, says Narraway.

The suspects are narrowed down to a group of house guests who are meeting with the Prince of Wales to discuss the funding of a huge project: the Cape to Cairo railway. While the Prince might overlook the unfortunate loss of a maid while they're there, the Queen is due back soon and if she finds out, she's likely to veto any Royal support in the scheme.

While Pitt gets a fascinating glimpse of Palace life, he firmly believes in the concept of justice - yet now he witnesses people who are able to make their own laws and their own justice.