Barbara Cleverly, bestselling author of the Joe Sandilands investigations, whisks listeners to 1920s Cambridge, a European intellectual capital on the cusp of dramatic change, with a case to be solved by an ingenious new sleuth....

Great Britain, 1923: Detective Inspector John Redfyre is a godsend to the Cambridge CID. A handsome young veteran bred among the city's educated elite, he is no stranger to the set running its esteemed colleges and universities—a society that previously seemed impenetrable to even those at the top of local law enforcement, especially with the force plagued by its own history of corruption.

When Redfyre is invited to attend the annual St. Barnabas College Christmas concert in his Aunt Henrietta's stead, he is expecting a quiet evening, though perhaps a bit of matchmaking mischief on his aunt's part. But he arrives to witness a minor scandal: Juno Proudfoot, the trumpeter of the headlining musical duo, is a woman, and a young one at that—practically unheard of in conservative academic circles.

When she suffers a near-fatal fall after the close of the show, Redfyre must consider whether someone was trying to kill her. Has her musical talent, her beauty, or perhaps, most importantly, her gender provoked a dangerous criminal to act?

Redfyre must both seek advice from and keep an eye on old friends to catch his man before more innocents fall victim.