Feisty teenage thief Maeko and her fellow pickpocket Chaff scrape out a meager existence in Victorian London’s gritty streets. When a near-disastrous heist leads her to a mysterious clockwork cat and two dead bodies, she’s thrust into a murder mystery that may cost her everything she holds dear. Her only allies are Chaff, the cat, and Ash, the son of the accused murderer. What starts as a simple investigation reveals a conspiracy stretching across the entire city. With danger closing in around them, the only way any of them will get out of this alive is if they all work together.

Maeko hasn't been long away from the gritty London streets and she's already learning that her new "civilized" life comes with its own challenges. She has to dress proper, eat proper and be a proper lady. She can't even talk to a boy without a chaperone. She's got proper coming out of her ears. If not for her feline companion Macak, she might go mad. Her one hope for some freedom and excitement comes when the moody detective, Em, asks her to be an apprentice. But that apprenticeship comes with a price. She must agree to spy on Macak's owner, Lucian, the wealthy businessman and inventor whose life she saved. Everything changes when Lucian's brother dies in an explosion while visiting Lucian's home in the heart of London. The Literati—a powerful group vying for political control of London—say it was murder and Maeko is on their suspect list. With Macak at her side, she must turn once more to her allies, Chaff and Ash. They will have to brave city streets torn by rebellion and conspiracy to find the truth.

Since finding the cat Macak, Maeko has gone from living as a pickpocket on the streets of London to becoming deeply enmeshed in rising hostilities between the Pirates and the Literati. All around her, the two warring factions are hard at work looking for ways to destroy each other. Both sides have offered to help protect her loved ones if she does what they want. Meanwhile, things are spiraling out of control in her relationships with her companions, Chaff, and Ash. With the cat Macak as her constant ally, Maeko must decide who else she can trust. Only one thing is certain, she’ll need help to keep from getting caught in the crossfire.