Autumn, 1728. Life is good for Thomas Hawkins and Kitty Sparks.

The Cocked Pistol, Kitty's wickedly disreputable bookshop, is a roaring success. Tom's celebrity as 'Half-Hanged Hawkins', the man who survived the gallows, is also proving useful. Their happiness proves short-lived.

When Tom is set upon by a street gang, he discovers there's a price on his head. Who on earth could want him dead - and why? With the help of his ward, Sam Fleet, and Sam's underworld connections, Tom's investigation leads to a fine house in Jermyn Street, the elegant, enigmatic Lady Vanhook and an escaped slave by the name of Jeremiah Patience. But for Tom and Kitty, discovering the truth is only the beginning of the nightmare.