The Traitor in the Tunnel
Queen Victoria has a little problem: there's a petty thief at work in Buckingham Palace. Charged with discretion, the Agency puts quickwitted Mary Quinn on the case, where she must pose as a domestic while fending off the attentions of a feckless Prince of Wales. But when the prince witnesses the murder of one of his friends in an opium den, the potential for scandal looms large. And Mary faces an even more unsettling possibility: the accused killer, a Chinese sailor imprisoned in the Tower of London, shares a name with her long-lost father. Meanwhile, engineer James Easton, Mary's onetime paramour, is at work shoring up the sewers beneath the palace, where an unexpected tunnel seems to be very much in use. Can Mary and James trust each other (and put their simmering feelings aside) long enough to solve the mystery and protect the Royal Family? Hoist on your waders for Mary's most personal case yet, where the stakes couldn't be higher - and she has everything to lose.
A quickwitted agent for the Agency, she poses as a domestic in Buckingham Palace to investigate a thief and later a murder, while also confronting a personal connection to the accused killer.
An engineer working on the sewers beneath Buckingham Palace, he is Mary's onetime paramour and becomes involved in the mystery of an unexpected tunnel.
The reigning monarch who has a problem with a petty thief in Buckingham Palace, leading to Mary Quinn's investigation.
A feckless prince whose attentions Mary must fend off, and who witnesses a murder in an opium den, creating a potential scandal.
A Chinese sailor imprisoned in the Tower of London, accused of murder, who shares a name with Mary's father, making the case personal for her.
This book is the fourth installment in the Mary Quinn Mysteries series, following "The Agency: The Body at the Tower." While each book features a self-contained mystery, reading them in order allows for a deeper understanding of the protagonist's ongoing personal development and relationships.
The novel is set against the backdrop of Victorian London and incorporates historical details of the era, including aspects of Buckingham Palace and the social dynamics of the time. While the central mystery and characters are fictional, the historical setting is meticulously researched.