Inspector Thomas Pitt is shocked. The body of a boy, clearly from the upper classes, has been found in the filthy sewers of Bluegate Fields, one of Londons most dangerous slums. Whats more, the unfortunate boy had been violated before he was murdered. So vile a case is hardly a topic for drawing-room conversation.

But when the Waybournes, the boys family, refuse to answer the polices questions, Inspector Pitt begins to wonder what secrets they are trying to hide. Pitts wife and helpmeet, Charlotte, is determined to find outeven if it means tearing down the faades of an oh-so-proper family.