London 1842. There has been a mysterious and horrible death at the Reform London's newest and grandest gentleman's club. A death the club is desperate to hush up. Captain William Avery is persuaded to investigate and soon discovers a web of rivalries and hatreds both personal and political simmering behind the club's handsome façade - and in particular concerning its resident genius Alexis Soyer 'the Napoleon of food' a chef whose culinary brilliance is matched only by his talent for self-publicity. But Avery is distracted for where is his mentor and partner-in-crime Jeremiah Blake? And what if this first death was only a dress rehearsal for something far more sinister?

Part of the Avery and Blake Series series.