The entire year is 1878, and Sally Lockhart has started her own financial consulting business. When a customer loses a fortune in the unpredicted collapse of the British shipping firm, Sally is set to learn why. But as she comes closer to learning the identity from the firm’s elusive owner, she discovers that her queries are definately not simple –and that this answers may cost her her existence.

“Fraud, fire, and bloody murder pursue Sally Lockhart in an excellent sequel towards the Ruby in the Smoke. Sally, now 22, is running a business as a financial specialist. When she and her close friends challenge corrupt economic interests, they find themselves in a web of intrigue that stretches from fetid slums of the poor to the corporate offices of the richest man in Europe. Sally’s detective function reveals the cable connections between corrupt power and broken lives. The action is fast, scenes are restricted and dramatic, the vocabulary is vivid, and the wealth of minimal character types are sharply individualized. An immensely engaging thriller.”–(starred) Booklist. Reading level: 6.7.