Old Broadbrim Under Crime's Thumb

A killer's knife. A city full of shadows. And a detective who refuses to look away.

Old Broadbrim is a man who hunts monsters.

The great Quaker detective has seen enough of Cincinnati's criminal underworld to know that evil wears a respectable face. He is ready to leave—grip packed, train waiting—when a dead girl pulled from the Ohio River changes everything.

She is young. She is beautiful. And someone has put a dagger through her heart.

Old Broadbrim steps into the case before the body is cold. What he finds rattles even his steady nerves: a stolen weapon hidden beneath a drunkard's mattress, a coded letter arranging a midnight meeting, and a circle of conspirators who know exactly who he is—and what they intend to do about it.

They are not afraid of him. They should be.

But as Old Broadbrim tightens the net, the circle tightens back. Hired killers track his movements through gaslit streets. A beautiful woman pulls strings from a chandelier-lit parlor. And an ominous figure known only as Eaglet orchestrates it all from the darkness beyond reach.

Old Broadbrim has broken crime rings before. He has walked into traps and walked back out.

This time, the trap is built by people who have studied his every move.

Can the great detective unmask the Dread Circle before it closes around his throat for good?