Inspector Faro is reminded of one of his early cases while attending a picture exhibition in 1887. The reader is propelled back in time twenty-seven years to when a young Faro has been sent to catch the villainous Macheath who has escaped Scotland and is hiding out in Kent. A chance meeting with old friend and artist Erland Flett has Faro staying at William Morris’ home where he has another meeting with somebody from his more recent past—a notorious murderess.

House party murder mysteries are invariably entertaining, and this one might feel like an open-and-shut case at first, but read on. Ms Knight weaves in the historical characters of Morris, Rossetti and others with the real life "not proven" murderess Madeleine Smith to tell a fascinating and highly readable tale. We get to know a Faro we have not previously seen, one who's at the start of his career, adding a new dimension to a series that I thought had ended. This is a well-crafted story, with constant new developments in the case that keep the pages turning. In short, this is what I consider to be a real historical whodunit, one that has a firm underpinning of historical verisimilitude while concentrating 100% on delivering a rattling good yarn.