William Warwick defies family expectations to join London’s Metropolitan Police, starting on the beat before becoming a detective with Scotland Yard’s arts and antiquities squad. His first major case—recovering a stolen Rembrandt—entangles him with charming but dangerous art collector Miles Faulkner, his cunning lawyer Booth Watson, and Faulkner’s enigmatic wife Christina. Along the way, William falls in love with gallery researcher Beth Rainsford, who is hiding a troubling secret of her own.