A lady goes to extraordinary lengths to convince a gifted private investigator to help her clear a friend of murder charges.
Lady Janus, Lillian Kane, refuses to get married. Her mother endured a loveless marriage to protect her reputation. Lillian will not make the same mistake her mother did and sacrifice her independence for the sake of security. She is quite happy being the mistress of the wealthy and powerful Marquis of Beaumont, Dillon Mayburn.
Then Dillon is arrested for murder. Lillian is positive he didn’t do it, but she can’t get anyone to believe her. Lady Janus’s reputation for unconventionality is working against her in the conservative circles of law enforcement. The victim had friends in high places; the Marquis has enemies everywhere. Someone is pushing for a speedy trial and a quick conviction. The police have been told to ignore any evidence that doesn’t fit with the theory that the Marquis killed his former lover in a fit of passion.
Nicholas Redford is a private investigator. He used to be a police officer, but he resigned. Now that he has his own agency, he doesn’t have to worry about interdepartment politics, society pretensions or aristocratic hypocrits. He deals in facts, not emotions and he absolutely refuses to be swayed by a pretty face. When Lillian begs him to prove Dillon didn’t kill anyone, he tells her that the facts speak for themselves and guilt or innocence is decided in the courts. Then Nick receives an anonymous note that warns him not to concern himself with ‘the murdering Marquis’. Nicholas Redford has never been fond of taking orders.