"After escaping from a private sanitarium, Adelaide Blake arrives in Burning Cove, California, desperate to start over. Working at an herbal tea shop puts her on the radar of those who frequent the seaside resort town: Hollywood movers and shakers always in need of hangover cures and tonics. One such customer is Jake Truett, a recently widowed businessman in town for a therapeutic rest. But unbeknownst to Adelaide, his exhaustion is just a cover....

Anne Clifton was one of the finest women in Ursula Kern's employ. But Miss Clifton has met an untimely end. And Ursula is convinced it was not due to natural causes. Archaeologist and adventurer Slater Roxton thinks Mrs. Kern is off her head to meddle in such dangerous business. Nevertheless, he seems sensible enough to Ursula, though she does find herself unnerved by his self-possession and unreadable green-gold eyes.

"An unconventional woman and a man shrouded in mystery walk a tightrope of desire as they race against a killer to find a machine that could change the world"--

Venetia Milton earns big bucks photographing the artifacts owned by the brooding Gabriel Jones, whom she also manages to seduce, but after hearing that he is dead, she is stunned when he winds up on her doorstep very much alive and afraid for his life.

Sylvester Jones and Nicholas Winters, founders of the Arcane Society, each sought to enhance their individual psychic talents. Winters' efforts led to the creation of a device called the Burning Lamp. Each generation the Winters man who inherits it is destined to develop multiple talents and the curse of madness. Now, plagued by hallucinations and nightmares, notorious crime lord Griffin Winters is convinced he has been struck with the Winters Curse...

Consulting on the investigation into a lord's murder, botanist Lucinda Bromley realizes that a poison can be traced back to her, prompting her to hire fellow Arcane Society member Caleb Jones to keep her name out of the investigation and to find the murderer.

One does not expect to be kidnapped on a London street in broad daylight. But Amity Doncaster barely escapes with her life after she is trapped in a carriage with a blade-wielding man in a black silk mask who whispers the most vile taunts and threats into her ear. Her quick thinking, and her secret weapon, save her . . . for now. But the monster known in the press as the Bridegroom, who has left a trail of female victims in his wake, has survived...

The Kern Secretarial Agency provides reliable professional services to its wealthy clientele, and Anne Clifton was one of the finest young women in Ursula Kern's employ. But Miss Clifton has met an untimely end -- and Ursula is convinced it was not due to natural causes. Bent on justice, Ursula hatches a plan: take Anne's place as stenographer to the reclusive poet Valerie, Lady Fulbrook. There are dark rumors about Lord Fulbrook, and his gloomy mansion...