There's something Slightly Shady about Lavinia
Lake. First of all, no decent woman would go into
trade, even when an unscrupulous employer leaves
her stranded abroad with her young niece. But the
capable Lavinia has landed on her feet, peddling
dubious reproductions of ancient artifacts in Rome
to earn passage home.

When a madman ransacks her
shop, accusing her of aiding and abetting a
murderous gang of thieves, Lavinia and her niece
Emeline return to London, where Lavinia once more
takes lemons and makes lemonade, becoming a
private investigator. In the course of her first
discreet inquiry for a wealthy aristocrat with
secrets to hide, Lavinia runs into her madman once
more, standing over the recently deceased body of
a blackmailer.

Not exactly your usual beginning
for a relationship, but Mr. Tobias March is hardly
an ordinary man. In fact, he's quite
extraordinary, Lavinia very reluctantly admits to
herself. When threats to Lavinia's safety force
her into an unlikely partnership with the
mysterious Mr. March, the fur--and a petticoat or
two--flies. A heady combination of passion and the
shared thrill of the hunt for a depraved murderer
may lead Lavinia and Tobias to form a partnership
of a more permanent kind.