
<b>London, 1871</b><br /><br />Life in the Whitechapel slums is dark, dirty, and dangerous, particularly for a young woman on her own. To survive, Coventry Adams must rely on quick wits and nimble fingers. Dishonored and damaged, cut off from her family, she makes a perilous living preying on those who would take advantage of her.<br /><br />But when she steals from the wrong gentleman, Coventry's precarious existence is shattered. The man is a Minister of Parliament, engaged in negotiating a delicate international agreement. He is murdered that very night, and suddenly Scotland Yard wants very badly to find the girl who appears to be an assassin. A keen young detective is hot on her trail, convinced of her guilt.<br /><br />Pursued by policemen, foreign agents, and criminals, alone in an overcrowded city, Coventry must call on all her skill as a social chameleon, passing through every level of London society in a frantic race to uncover the truth before she is punished for a crime she did not commit. In the process, in spite of the risks, she must open her hardened heart and allow friendship and trust to blossom once more.