In Victorian London gruesome events are afoot. Some are asking why the Detective Force's Inspector Albert Newsome is investigating the curious but - apparently - insignificant death that occurred in Holywell Street. What seemed like a common enough incident is complicated when the Inspector discovers his ex-colleague (and master detective) George Williamson is also pursuing the case, as well as a sinister former criminal named Noah Dyson. Then the questions begin to multiply: why are prostitutes being poisoned? Who is exerting pressure on the Commissioner of police? And who, or what, is 'Persephone'?

From the gutter to the drawing rooms of St James', the two detectives choose their allies and plunge into the underworld of Victorian London, where nothing is quite as it seems and the razor's flash waits around every corner.