A missing family heirloom – and one of the family stole it. In the spring of 1812, Piers Withan is dragged from his beloved Oxford to be the new Viscount Petteril. Burdened by responsibilities he doesn’t want and the remnants of a family who don’t want him, he is saved from an irredeemable mistake by Ape, the small thief burgling his house. When the family heirloom known as the Petteril Necklace is found to be missing, Piers seeks out his burglar to get it back. However, their search leads them to Piers’s own family – entitled, resentful and largely indebted. Only, which one of them is the thief? As he uncovers the truth, Piers begins to find his feet and his old joy in life, not least in his burgeoning friendship with Ape, whose past is a mystery of its own.

Incognito in Portugal…Lord Petteril’s cousin, the newly commissioned Major Bertie Withan, has gone missing somewhere between landing in Lisbon and joining his regiment on the front line of the Peninsular War. Piers and trusty assistant April, disguised as a government clerk and his wife to deter undue interest from possible ransom-seekers, try to follow Bertie’s last movements from British army headquarters to the fetid back streets of Lisbon. Inevitably they face hostility, danger and too many secrets. But are they already too late to save Bertie?

Time to confront reality – and a worrying mystery. Lord Petteril and his new viscountess return to England to face the consequences of their unequal marriage, only to discover that Petteril’s valet, the enigmatic Stewart, has been arrested for theft. Naturally, Piers and April have to clear his name by finding the true thief among the Red Lion Inn’s servants and guests, who include an eccentric baronet and his sister, a wounded soldier and an old friend from Stewart’s past. But Stewart isn’t helping himself by keeping secrets which they need to unravel in order to reach the truth. Events take a more terrifying turn when Piers is shot at, and April makes a momentous decision regarding the future of their marriage.