England, 1892, and Victoria, Queen and Empress, is in the 54th yaer of her reign. The reign of Lily Langtry as mistress to the dissolute Prince of Wales is over, while that of Mrs Keppel is shortly to begin. The prince's unfortunate wife, the long-suffering Alexandra, is the most popular woman in Britain, feted and adored, yet sadly her son, Albert Victor - Eddy to his family and second in line to the throne - has taken after his father and is also renowned for his scandalous lifestyle. Then Prince Eddy is found slaughtered in his bed. Terrified of this new scandal, the Prince of Wales and his spindoctors decide on a cover-up. The murder is disguised as death by influenza. Lord Francis Powerscourt, an Irish investigator, is asked to find the killer. The Royal Family and even the Government are not above suspicion for Eddy would have been a singularly unsuitable monarch. Powerscourt's quest takes him through the Prince's unsavoury past, on a journey of discovery through the crumbling palazzos and misty waterways of Venice. And it takes him on a love affair that starts in front of Turner's Fighting Temeraire in London's National Gallery. Through a web of scandal and suicide, vice and revenge. Powerscourt unravels the mystery of the prince's last goodnight.