In 20th century Princeton, New Jersey, a powerful curse, which besets the wealthiest of families, causes the disappearance of a young bride, and when her brother sets out to find her, he crosses paths with the town's most formidable people, including Grover Cleveland and Upton Sinclair.

"A high-octane novel featuring a charismatic thief forced to pull off one last spectacular caper in order to save his family"--

Professor McLeod Dulany's unassuming star student, Greg Pierre, actually is assuming--a false name, that is. When the student who outed him is found murdered, suspicion falls on Pierre. But McLeod believes in Pierre's innocence, and now must trace the clues left behind to find a killer's true identity.

McLeod Dulaney has returned to Princeton as a visiting professor -- and as a lifelong lover of the written word, she spends a good amount of time browsing the Rare Books collection, where she makes fast friends. But soon she finds one of her new friends murdered in an eighteenth-century study, and the murder weapon is missing. To further confuse matters, McLeod learns that her temporary home was the site of a murder some years back, and everyone seems...