Against a backdrop of murder and intrigue at the dissolute court of King Charles II, can Susannah and Raphael save their friend and find each other along the way?

After a three-year absence mired in anxiety and trapped by her lack of speech, portrait miniaturist Susannah Gresham gathers her courage and returns to Whitehall Palace and her godfather, the king. Encountering Florentine jeweller Raphael Rossi, who appears to her just another court libertine, she is surprised when he finds his way unbidden into her thoughts.

With help from the Duchess of Richmond, Raphael has set out to win her heart. When Susannah's closest friend Sam Carter is sentenced to death for a murder he did not commit, Susannah and Raphael must race against time to uncover the real killer.

But nothing is as it seems, for Sam has dangerous enemies who are determined to see him die... and will go to any lengths to achieve their goal.