This book begins four months after the end of MURDER BY MOONRISE. Dr. Julia Lewis is interviewed at her Whitechapel clinic by a private inquiry agent working on behalf of Lady Alice Glendon, whose sister, Lady Elinor, has vanished. Her last known appointment was with Dr. Lewis under a fake name.

Dr. Lewis has other matters on her mind. She gathers with family and friends to announce her engagement to Inspector Richard Tennant. That night, she learns that Lady Elinor's husband is traveling for several weeks on the Egyptian royal yacht as a guest of Viceroy Ismail Pasha. Rumor has it that they're seeking British investment in the Suez Canal. Both financiers and opposers of the canal have skin in the game, and Dr. Lewis wonders how far they'd go töachieve their ambitions.

Soon after, Alice's private inquiry agent is found dead at the bottom of a staircase. Dr. Lewis refuses to believe no foul play was involved, despite the autopsy's lack of conclusive evidence. She believes the agent's missing memoir manuscript may hold clues. . . .

The hunt is on to find Alice's sister. Alice and Dr. Lewis are alarmed when they discover Elinor had been seeing two different doctors-one a "nerve specialist." For a woman, this could only mean involuntary psychiatric hold.¿

Dr. Lewis must employ all her wits and wiles to track down Lady Elinor before she meets a worse fate.¿