"Christmas Eve, 1901. Gabriel Ward KC is hard at work on a thorny libel case involving London's most famous music hall star, Topsy Tillotson, and its most notorious tabloid newspaper, the Nation's Voice, but the Inner Temple remains as quiet and calm as ever. Quiet, that is, until a severed hand arrives in the post. While the hand's recipient, Temple Treasurer Sir William Waring, is rightfully shaken, Gabriel is filled with curiosity. Who would want to send such a thing? And why? But as more parcels arrive--one with fatal consequences--Gabriel realizes that it is not Sir William who is the target, but the Temple itself. Someone is holding a grudge that has already led to at least one death. Now it's up to Gabriel and Constable Wright of the City of London Police to find out who, before an old death leads to a new murder"-- Provided by publisher.