Young bluestocking Lydia Trevelyn and her notable neighbor Lord Beaumont had managed to thwart all matchmaking schemes. However, fate conspires to bring them together through a most unfortunate means: murder. For when Beaumont finds a body in a local river, Lydia is shocked to discover that the deceased was, in life, her father's mistress. Shaken by the truth about her father and by the murky circumstances of his paramour's death, Lydia sees Beaumont as an ally in solving the mystery. Amid much bickering, the unlikely pair plumbs London's seamier side, exposing themselves to unbidden danger--not the least of which is the peril of losing their hearts . . . to love!