John Rawlings, the apothecary with a talent for detective work, and John Fielding, the blind magistrate, make a welcome return in this evocative Georgian mystery. They are enjoying a performance of 'The Beggar's Opera' in Drury Lane when the leading actor dramatically falls to his death on stage. As they begin the hunt for clues, they discover a hotbed of rivalry on and off the stage and a trail of obsession that leads to the dark heart of a cold-blooded murder.