Returning from a continental honeymoon with his wife, Lady Jane Grey, newly elected MP Charles Lenox is asked by his colleague, Ludovic Starling, to investigate the murder of his footman who was bludgeoned to death with a brick. Lenox gradually realizes that what seem to be the facts of the case may have been manipulated, and that an old friend may be implicated in the footman's death. Though a suspect is soon arrested, Lenox isn't convinced. Desperately trying to balance the opening of Parliament and the dark secrets that surround him, Lenox fears that the killer is someone shockingly innocuous -- who may be prepared to spill blood again. And this time it's likely to be Lenox's blood.