The Kern Secretarial Agency provides reliable professional services to its wealthy clientele, and Anne Clifton was one of the finest young women in Ursula Kern’s employ. But Miss Clifton has met an untimely end—and Ursula is convinced it was not due to natural causes. Bent on justice, Ursula hatches a plan: take Anne’s place as stenographer to the reclusive poet Valerie, Lady Fulbrook. There are dark rumors about Lord Fulbrook, and his gloomy mansion in Mapstone Square seems the logical starting point for an undercover investigation. Archaeologist and adventurer Slater Roxton thinks Mrs. Kern is off her head to meddle in such dangerous business. But if this mysterious widowed beauty insists on stirring the pot, Slater intends to remain close by as they venture into the darker side of polite society and a den of iniquity called the Olympus Club. Together they must reveal the identity of a killer—and to achieve their goal they may need to reveal their deepest secrets to each other as well...


柯恩秘書機構為有錢的顧客提供可靠又專業的服務。安妮‧克莉芙頓是俄舒拉．柯恩底下一位年輕貌美的員工，但卻離奇死去。俄舒拉確信她絕非自然死亡，滿腔正義的她因此籌畫了一項計劃──接手安妮速記員的工作去找隱居詩人維洛莉‧弗羅布魯克女士。關於弗羅布魯克公爵有很多黑暗謠言，他在馬普斯通街區的陰森公寓似乎是這場暗中調查的合理起點。史雷特羅斯頓身兼考古學家及冒險家，他認為俄舒拉干涉如此危險的事實在是太瘋狂了，但若是這位神秘的美麗寡婦堅持要插手的話，史雷特打算緊隨在旁，一起冒險進入上流社會的陰暗面，以及一個叫做天堂俱樂部的邪惡巢穴。他們必須一起揭露兇手的身分，而為了達成目的，他們可能需要向彼此透露內心最深的秘密。