Dr. Peter Ainsley knew it was only a matter of time before London claims another murder victim, but this time the body is discovered tied to a lamppost four doors down from the house Ainsley shares with his sister and their bedridden father. The day the body is discovered, a maid of their house and Ainsley's lover, Julia Kemp, fails to return home from errands in the city.
Convinced the body found in Belgravia and Julia's disappearance are related, Ainsley follows leads that point him to an infamous bookman, Thaddeus Calvin, known as much for manipulating boxing outcomes as he is for his violent temper. Fiercely protected by the neighbourhood he extorts, Thaddeus is like a ghost, so deeply feared even Scotland Yard is unable to charge him for his crimes.
When another young woman's body, a housemaid like Julia, is discovered floating in the river Ainsley hastens his desperate search to discover Julia's whereabouts before she too becomes just another murder victim found in the Thames.