A general election is approaching, and Thomas Pitt is ordered to prevent a political crisis involving Tory powerbroker Charles Voisey and Liberal candidate Aubrey Serracold. When a fashionable clairvoyant is murdered after a séance in Southampton Row, the victim’s knowledge of private conversations threatens to destabilise both campaigns.
With Charlotte and the children away in the country, Pitt must investigate spiritualist circles, election intrigue and the reach of Voisey’s organisation. The case becomes a contest over who can control scandal before political fanaticism places Pitt’s family in danger.