June 1897: A year has passed since forensic psychiatrist Dr. Laszlo Kreizler tracked down a serial killer with the help of a team of trusted companions. In this follow-up to the Anthony Award winner The Alienist, Kreizler and his friends—reporter John Schuyler Moore; derringer-toting detective Sara Howard; and Stevie Taggert, the boy Kreizler saved from a life of street crime—band together again when the wife of a Spanish diplomat begs them to find her kidnapped infant daughter. It is a case fraught with danger, since Spain and the United States are on the verge of war, and their investigation leads the team to a shocking suspect.

"A ripping yarn told with verve, intensity, and a feel for historical detail.... Once again we are careening around the gaslighted New York that [Caleb] Carr knows, and depicts, so well."—NYTBR