Lizzie Short, a street smart, spunky former street waif in the dockland area of London during the Napoleonic Wars, finds that being a young entrepreneur is a thrilling challenge. She and Quon Lee are now working together to improve the lives of dockland's poor, especially the broken and maimed soldiers who have been ignored even after their dedicated service to The Crown.

Lizzie's youthful 'spies' discover a distressing secret well-hidden by local authorities and utilize the talents of some local gypsies. It's the end of 1805 and Lizzie and Quon find their busy lives taking a disturbing, yet exciting, new direction. A trusted friend stumbles onto a stunning secret from Lizzie's past while Lizzie's business associates increase her circle of influence.

A great attraction of Whittle's novels is his ability to tell a story without the use of either sex or graphic violence. Thus, these books tend to be read by all members of a family and are very popular with both school and public libraries.