Gossip, scandal and murder collide on the express train to London. Did the journalist fall from the first-class carriage, or was she pushed?

Cleo’s holiday with her family to the seaside resort town of Brighton is everything she hoped it would be…until she receives a blackmail note. The blackmailer demands Cleo help her or a story revealing Cleo’s investigating will appear in the newspaper. With her uncle warning her to keep her detecting activities private, Cleo agrees to meet the blackmailer when they return to London. But when the woman is seen getting on the train but not off, Cleo grows concerned.

She enlists the help of the hotel staff to search for the body along the railway line. Finding it confirms her suspicions and leads her to discover that her blackmailer was a gossip columnist. What scandal had the victim uncovered that led to her death? And which fellow passenger had a secret worth killing for?

With Harry Armitage’s assistance, Cleo attempts to track down the murderer. Meanwhile, pressure is mounting on the hotel staff to host a society wedding that will be featured in the social pages for all the right reasons.

With knowledge of magic becoming more widespread in London, magicians find themselves highly sought after. Consumers want to buy their wares and so seek out magicians among their acquaintance. India's rare magic is in demand from Matt's family, the Collector's Club, and other magicians who want her to extend their magic.

But it's wise to be wary of the attention.

When the wool magician who helped India create a flying carpet spell disappears, his wife is worried for his life. India and Matt are worried for the country. If the person who stole the spell also kidnapped the wool magician, they could use flying carpets as vehicles of war. The closer they get to finding him, the more they realize they can't trust anyone, not even the government. When it's revealed that England's spy master has plans for India's talents, she refuses to cooperate.

But Matt knows it's not as simple as refusing. Every decision has a repercussion. And repercussions can be deadly.

The staff in high society households are expected to be unobtrusive, but a dead butler in the dining room tends to get noticed. Did he die of natural causes or was he poisoned?

Cleo is hired by the housekeeper at a Mayfair residence after the police rule the sudden death of the butler was the result of natural causes. Not convinced by the verdict, she wants Cleo to prove foul play was involved. Considering he was acting mysteriously around some of the guests, and they were equally mysterious when they saw him, murder is a possibility.

When the investigation leads Cleo to another decades-old murder and the sudden disappearance of the primary suspect, she's even more determined to uncover the truth. But the rich and powerful don't like airing their dirty laundry, and her efforts are thwarted at every turn. Enlisting Harry Armitage to assist her, Cleo matches wits with her suspects in an effort to discover the secrets they're trying desperately to hide.