1899. Thomas Pitt is summoned to Buckingham Palace. Queen Victoria is all too aware that the Prince of Wales will soon inherit her empire. She tells Pitt she tasked her close friend, John Halberd, with investigating the Prince's friends, but before he could report back, Halberd was found dead. Forced to act alone in this most sensitive of investigations, Pitt finds himself embroiled in a plot that threatens the safety and reputation of the Empire... By the Queen of the Victorian mystery.