The Ellison family is just like most of the other upper class families in Victorian London, the men busy about their business or spending time at their "clubs" while the women busy themselves with social calls, genteel pursuits and household management. The garroting murder of the first young lady in Cater street barely made a ripple in the parlors of the neighborhood because she was, after all, only a maid and very likely was socializing with dubious characters from the slums. But the second victim was a young woman of genteel birth, a member of their own social circle, and her brutal death couldn't be ignored. When the third victim was the Ellison's own maid, the horror barged into the drawing room and demanded their full attention, crumbling the delicate facade and exposing facts that none of those genteel ladies had ever dreamed possible. And the persistent questioning of the awkward police detective, Inspector Pitt, brings him into closer and closer contact with the middle daughter of the Ellison family until Charlotte has to admit to herself that he cannot be ignored any longer, either.