Quitting her husband's house and moving back in with her horrible family, Lady Maccon becomes the scandal of the London season. Queen Victoria dismisses her from the Shadow Council, and the only person who can explain anything, Lord Akeldama, unexpectedly leaves town. To top it all off, Alexia is attacked by homicidal mechanical ladybugs, indicating, as only ladybugs can, the fact that all of London's vampires are now very much interested in seeing...

Lady Wilhelmina Bascombe, in need of money after the death of her husband, attempts to retrieve a family treasure--a Renaissance masterpiece currently in the hands of a cunning art collector in Venice--with the help of the Lady Travelers Society. Dante Augustus Montague likewise believes the painting was stolen from his family's art collection. Now they are rivals for a prize that will change everything.