In his family life, Angus Stonefield had been gentle and loving; in business, a man of probity; and in his relationship with his twin brother, Caleb, a saint.  Now Angus is missing and the depraved Caleb is suspected of killing him.  Monk must find the body and discover the means and the motive for murder – and the missing murderer’s whereabouts.  The more he investigates the more bizarre the twists and turns become...

Hester’s job is to accompany the elderly and infirm Scottish lady, Mrs Mary Farraline, on a train journey to London.  However, the elderly woman dies during the night and post mortem examination reveals a lethal dose of medicine.  Hester is charged with murder and faces the gallows.  Monk must find the calculating killer amongst the prominent and coolly unassailable Farraline clan and barrister Olive Rathbone can only sit on the sidelines as this case is heard before a judge in Edinburgh, where Scottish law rules....

Prudence Barrymore, a talented nurse who had worked with Florence Nightingale in the Crimea, is found strangled to death in a London Hospital.  While Monk investigates, Hester takes a job at the hospital to learn more behind the scenes.  He discerns the shadow of a tragic evil and more of his own murky past, and some unsavoury truths are revealed in the courtroom...

Although esteemed General Thaddeus Carlyon meets his death in a freak accident at home, his beautiful wife, Alexandra, confesses that she killed him.  Monk, with the help of Hester and the brilliant counsel for the defence, Oliver Rathbone, work feverishly to break down the wall of silence raised by the accused and her husband’s proud family, culminating in a dramatic court room scene....

Inspector William Monk has his hands full when an aristocrat’s daughter is stabbed to death in her own bed.  His efforts are hamstrung by his own amnesia and the ineptitude of his superior, who would love to see him fail.  With Hester’s help, he unravels the shocking truth... and learns more about his own past.

This introduces us to William Monk, a detective with the police in London of 1856. After recovering from a serious accident in a carriage, he finds he has lost his memory. He is assigned to investigate the brutal murder of an aristocratic Crimean war hero and in the process finds out more of his own past – and is terrified of what he sees. Did he commit this crime himself? During his investigations he meets Hester Latterly, a forthright young woman of middle class, who nursed with Florence Nightingale in Crimea...