March, 1896. Motherhood and work as a private detective don't easily go hand-in-hand, but Vanessa is determined to give it a try. Being a wife and mother has meant that she's had to give up her beloved teaching job, but Vanessa has been kept busy by a string of requests asking for her help in solving troubling cases. It is not often, though, that her investigations involve violent death . . . When three sombre professors knock on her door, Vanessa knows they have come in search of her help. But when they explain the circumstances surrounding their colleague's murder, she begins to doubt whether her modest capabilities will be enough to solve the mystery. Leaving the comforts and pleasures of her home in Cambridge behind for the duration of the enquiry, Vanessa embarks on a journey to London where the grim realities of life threaten to overwhelm her. An exquisitely written and devilishly clever murder mystery by the author of "The Three Body-Problem" and "Flowers Stained with Moonlight".