Pyke joins the newly formed Detective Bureau of the Metropolitan police in this fourth gripping tale of corruption and murder in 19th century London London, 1844. Pyke has been part of the Metropolitan Police's newly formed "Detective Bureau" for six months. Unsurprisingly Pyke is confronted by faceless opponents within the Bureau and the New Police who don't like his unconventional methods, his criminal past, and his dubious law enforcement record. When the body of a policeman is found, it initially appears that the man has been killed while on duty in the course of a robbery that has gone wrong. But Pyke's investigations reveal that the policeman might have been murdered and the robbery offered as a ruse to cover up what really happened.