London, March 1918. British newspapers carry the dire news that the German Spring Offensive has begun, with thousands of British lives lost. Against this sombre backdrop, further mayhem strikes in the capital when a fire provides the diversion needed for an audacious bank robbery which leaves a police officer dead in its wake.For Detective Inspector Harvey Marmion, the investigation has a personal connection. However, the task of bringing the culprits to justice will be an uphill battle without Detective Sergeant Keedy, who is anxious to be released from hospital, at his side. And nothing in this case is quite what it seems .

1866. On a train bound for Portsmouth, an elegant woman shares a compartment with the lecherous Giles Blanchard. It is a lucky encounter for her, as she steps off the train after picking his pocket and in possession of scandalous material for a potential blackmail. It is a less fortuitous meeting for Blanchard, who will never reach his home on the Isle of Wight alive.Detective Inspector Colbeck and Sergeant Leeming are swiftly dispatched to sift through the evidence. With Queen Victoria poised to spend the summer on the island, a speedy resolution to the case is imperative for their superiors. Tracing Blanchard''s killer is an endeavour freighted with difficulties, but will the fact that their inquiries lead them to the door of a royal residence be one complication too many?

London, February 1918. A burglary in Limehouse in the small hours of the morning has escalated into a sinister siege between a band of thieves and the authorities, and a police constable lies dead. Detective Inspector Harvey Marmion and Detective Sergeant Joe Keedy hasten to the scene where attempts at talking the men into surrendering have been met with stony silence. When the door is eventually battered down, Keedy bravely leads the way in. Then a gunshot is heard: Keedy has been hit. While his partner is rushed to hospital, Marmion is on the trail of the burglars. Keedy, however, remains in the sights of the murderous thieves and the clock is ticking as Marmion delves into the secrets that lie behind this fatal incident...