With their luxurious honeymoon behind them, Matt and Brooke Devlin return refreshed and ready to take on a complex case of murder and mayhem in the thriving metropolis that is 19th-century Manhattan.
One-time debutante Brooke and her partner-in-detection are eager to begin their married life in the great city. Matt is now a detective sergeant under New York Police Commissioner Theodore Roosevelt, while Brooke is a society matron with her own decidedly less-than-conventional ideas about a fashionable woman's proper pursuits. Both are intrigued by New York's vast array of fascinating diversions--from dining in impeccable style in Delmonico's to glorious summer evenings spent in the city's tranquil riverside parks. But they've barely settled into their elegant new apartment when they are asked to investigate an unsolved case that is a high-profile embarrassment for Matt and the force: several valuable paintings have been stolen from the prestigious Manhattan Museum of Art; even more appalling, the museum's curator--who may have been a witness to the crime--has been murdered.
As the Devlins' search reveals glimmers of an artful forgery scheme, they find themselves with a glittering gallery of suspects--ranging from a disgraced wife who will do anything to regain her place in New York society, to the museum's suavely evasive director...from a respected artist shadowed by several unpretty indiscretions to one of New York's most urbane and ruthless gangleaders. The case is further complicated by Matt's partner--a seasoned, street-wise detective who regards Matt as a society detective at best--and Matt's superior, who may or may not have the force's best interests at heart. As the Devlins race to antangle a complex web of contradictory evidence and concealed motives, they find themselves at dangerous odds with each other--as well as with a calculating killer poised to conclude their investigation with a masterful finishing stroke.
