Nurse Bess Crawford finds herself involved in the search for a devious and dangerous killer in 1917 London after a woman she recognized from a wounded soldier's photo is found murdered.

Caring for an unstable soldier who believes his distant cousin is responsible for his injuries, battlefield nurse Bess Crawford investigates the patient's claims, only to find herself in unexpected danger.

"It's 1919, and the 'War to End All Wars' has been won. But there is no peace for Scotland Yard inspector Ian Rutledge, recently returned from the battlefields of France shell-shocked and tormented by the ever-present voice of the young Scot he had executed for refusing an order. Escaping into his work to save his sanity, Rutledge investigates the murder of a popular colonel in Warwickshire and his alleged killer, a decorated war hero and close friend...

While contending with wounded soldiers and influenza patients, battlefield nurse Bess Crawford stumbles upon the body of an officer and family friend who has been murdered, and uses her father's connections in the military to search for an elusive killer.

An astonishing tip from a grateful ex-convict seems implausible--but Inspector Ian Rutledge is intrigued and brings it to his superior at Scotland Yard. Alan Barrington, who has evaded capture for ten years, is the suspect in an appalling murder during Black Ascot, the famous 1910 royal horserace honoring the late King Edward VII. His disappearance began a manhunt that consumed Britain for a decade. Now it appears that Barrington has returned to England,...