Summer 1881: the streets of Limehouse are thick with opium... At eighteen Kitty Peck has inherited Paradise, a sprawling criminal empire on the banks of the Thames. Haunted by a terrible secret and stalked by a criminal cabal intent on humiliation and destruction, Kitty must fight for the future of everyone she cares for...
A three-year-old boy dies, having apparently fallen while trying to reach a bag of sugar on a high shelf. His grandmother stands accused of second-degree murder. Psychologist Susan Nordin Vinocour agrees to evaluate the defendant, to determine whether the impoverished and mentally ill woman is competent to stand trial.