An unexpected inheritance from her grandmother offers Libby Pulford the opportunity to escape her abusive marriage and return to her Lancashire roots with her young son Ned. But her domineering husband Steven won't let her go so easily.
Russell's attentions turn to the New Temple of God and its leader, a suffragette and mystic. When four bluestockings from the Temple die after changing their wills, could sins of a capital nature be afoot? What's more, Russel's most baffling mystery may now involve the burgeoning of a deeper affection between herself and the retired Holmes.