Kaia, 17, an orphan coming of age in the Victorian London of the 1850s, yearns to escape her horrific orphanage, to discover who her parents were, and to understand why she can sense shadows when others cannot. Yet the streets of London are as brutal as the orphanage, and for Kaia, there is no easy way out.
When Kaia, arrested, faces an even worse punishment, Detective Pinsley, 45, notices a strange marking on her arm and thinks she might be the key in solving a peculiar, mysterious case. Bodies are turning up dead in London, and Pinsley wonders whether it’s the work of a deranged serial killer, or of something… else. The methods of murder seem impossible, as does the murderer’s ability to escape death.
Kaia is given a choice: help solve the case, or be shipped off to Bedlam, the notorious insane asylum.
Unlikely partners, each mistrusting the other, Kaia and Pinsley embark to scour the dark corners and cobblestone streets of 19th century London in search of clues.
Yet what they find may shock and horrify even them.