James Enys is committing a crime just by practising as a lawyer - a Sixteenth Century woman can't even appear as a witness in court. Unfortunately Enys is a woman, reluctantly pretending to be a man. And right now she's sickened and scared.
She's in a dark alley, standing over the disembowelled corpse of a famous harlot - and the second to be found in that state.The only other witness is a Puritan government agent who might well have done the murder.
The Recorder of London, the leading lawyer of the city, tells Enys that if the real killer isn't found before the whores riot, Enys will be tried for the crime, found guilty and hanged.
Whom can she trust?
Her friend the player knows her secret but is too preoccupied with his poetry to help. And then there's the ugly urchin with his own secret - but what could a child know about the slaughter of prostitutes?
Can Enys work out who is elaborately cutting up women - while somehow steering clear of the noose.