Miss Penelope Monckton, just returned from nursing with Florence Nightingale’s in Crimea, has come to the country estate of one of the most scandalous men in England, Lord Rickarby—nicknamed Rakerby—to collect a bequest from his late wife, her childhood friend Millie. But something about Millie’s death doesn’t sit right with Penny, and she’s determined to use this visit to learn all she can about the events leading up to her dear friend’s death.

A celebrated painter, Joss, Lord Rickarby, knows Miss Penelope Monckton only from the letters she sent to his late wife during her time nursing in a war zone. But what he knows, he greatly admires. Since Millie’s death, however, he’s been under a cloud of suspicion that only grows darker with every new tabloid story—doubtless Miss Monckton believes the worst of him too. But when he finally meets the intrepid nurse, it’s while he’s lying on the forest floor bleeding from a gunshot wound from an unknown assailant.

With the shooting having cleared Joss as a suspect, Penny is now determined to work with the all too handsome earl to find out who killed Millie. But with every clue they uncover, a different picture of the killer begins to emerge—and it’s clear that instead of Millie’s circle during her marriage, the culprit comes from the world of her childhood—a childhood spent with Penny by her side. And as the healer and the hellion grow more entangled, the body count grows. Can this unlikely pair catch the killer before he puts a permanent end to their budding romance?