In an attempt to procure funding for the rebuilding of his beloved cathedral, Dean Tuckworth finds himself traveling to London with his obnoxious colleague, the self-serving Reverend Mortimer. If that is not troublesome enough, when a disfigured corpse is discovered at a dinner party hosted by mysterious philanthropist Hamlin Price, Tuckworth is thrown into the role of detective once again. The Bow Street inspector in charge of the investigation wants to pin the crime on Price's vanished secretary, but Tuckwell is not convinced. With the help of maverick poet and writer Leigh Hunt, Tuckworth sets out to discover the identity of the dead man and in the process stumbles on a secret so horrifying it threatens to destroy all that he stands for.