The Executioner's Heart: A Newbury & Hobbes Investigation

London in 1903 is a city of many marvels, both social and mechanical. When Police Inspector Bainbridge investigates the third in a series of murders that involve the removal of the victim's heart, he seeks help from his friend, special agent Maurice Newbury and his assistant, the independent-minded Miss Veronica Hobbes. As more puzzling clues emerge, Newbery finds himself torn between his loyalty to Edward, Prince of Wales, who fears that his mother's mental faculties are declining even as her body becomes more like the machines that keep her alive, and the Queen, who insists that the recently formed Secret Service is out to get her. When the existence of a beautiful Frenchwoman, covered in mystical tattoos and powered by a mechanical heart, becomes evident, the question is: who does she work for and who is her next target—the aging Queen Victoria or the vital Miss Hobbes?