In the late 1800s, the English countryside is rife with secret scandals, and nobody knows that better than Amelia. She had only recently made her debut into society when she met Sir Herbert Woodford, duke of Brazelton. She thought she'd found the love of her life, but the duke turns out to have a hidden, abusive, dark side.
Herbert is well-known throughout the land as being a mean, miserable man with a hair-trigger temper fueled by excessive alcohol consumption. When he is found murdered in his own home, hit over the head by a brass bookend, the list of suspects is endless. It turns out Amelia was not the only person Herbert was pushing around.
The duke is not mourned. Because he often lashed out at those around him, he'd managed to alienate almost everyone he knew, both friends and family alike. Still, a killer must be caught, but the investigation appears to have gone cold--until Senior Inspector Patrick Duffy realizes they overlooked one detail that could lead right to the murderer.