After a murder scandal nearly sent her husband to the gallows, Audrey, the Duchess of Fournier, has retreated to the countryside to distance herself from gossip-and from the Bow Street officer who proved as irritating as he was intriguing. But when Audrey's friend Charlotte, the Countess of Bainbury, dies mysteriously on Fournier Downs parkland, she summons the only person she trusts to uncover the truth: Principal Officer Hugh Marsden. Ignoring the mounting friction between them, as well as Hugh's command for her to stay out of his investigation, Audrey uses her uncanny ability to read the memories of objects to discover a web of sordid local secrets. More than one unlucky lady has been caught within its deadly strands, and a single misstep in their hunt for a killer could make Audrey and Hugh the next targets.