"Christmas 1866, and the amateur sleuth Charles Lenox, recently engaged to Lady Jane Grey, is happily celebrating the holiday. Across London, however, two journalists have just met with violent deaths - one shot, one throttled. Lenox soon involves himself in the strange case, which proves more complicated as he digs deeper. However, he must leave it behind to go north to Stirrington, to fulfil a lifetime dream: running for a Parliamentary seat. Once there, he gets a further shock when Lady Jane sends him a letter whose contents might threaten their nuptials. Lenox must negotiate the complexities of crime and politics, not to mention his imperiled engagement."--Publisher description.