Wealthy young widow Frances Wynn, the American-born Countess of Harleigh, moves from the English countryside to Victorian London, where accusations that implicate her in her late husband's death cause her to begin her own investigation.

"With her new husband George busy on a special mission for the British Museum, Frances has taken on an assignment of her own. The dowager Viscountess Wingate needs someone to sponsor her niece, Kate, for presentation to Queen Victoria. Frances--who understands society's quirks and constraints as only an outsider can--is the perfect candidate. Kate is charming and intelligent, though perhaps not quite as sheltered as she might first appear. More worrying...

Frances Wynn, widow to the late Earl of Harleigh, has no sooner sent her mother and daughter off on a shopping trip to Paris than she and her fiancé, George Hazelton, are socializing with visiting members of the Russian royal family. Scandal also comes calling: Inspector Delaney turns up outside Frances's house with a young French woman claiming she is Mrs. George Hazelton. Mrs. Hazelton, aka Irena, also insists that she is the illegitimate daughter...

Weaving wartime intrigue, rural village life, and little-known historical facts about the role of carrier pigeons in WWII, Stephanie Graves continues the adventures of British pigeoneer Olive Bright, but as bitter cold weather forces her racing birds indoors in November 1941, Olive is assigned to a new role in the war effort - escorting none other than Lieutenant Commander Ian Fleming on his visit to the Brickendonbury Manor spy training center......