When I stop to assist a young woman in the market at Covent Garden in the summer of 1817, I realized to my shock that is my daughter, Gabriella, whom I haven’t seen many years. I then discover that my estranged wife and her paramour, a French officer, have journeyed to London at the invitation of James Denis to dissolve her marriage to me.

Meanwhile, a Bow Street Runner and a man from the Thames River Police have asked me to help them look into the disappearances of “game girls” from Covent Garden. The magistrates aren’t interested in their fate, but they believe that I might learn a thing or two.

But when the goings-on in Covent Garden put my daughter in grave danger, my crusade turns personal. I will do anything, and call in any favors from anyone, in order to protect my own Gabriella.