It is the middle of three novels containing the memoir of the fictional Benjamin Weaver, a Jewish former bare-knuckle boxer and current "thief-taker" (private investigator).

His quest doesn't go according to plan, however, and Weaver soon finds himself falsely accused of murder, sentenced to hang and confined in the infamous Newgate Prison.

Weaver's personal and occupational struggles play out against the backdrop of the upcoming general election, in which the contending Whig and Tory parties seem equally corrupt.

The previously apolitical Weaver must take a crash course in London politics, as he attempts to understand the actions and motivations of various Whigs, Tories, Jacobites and even the Chevalier himself.

Liss also works into the story some curious and distinctive features of London life in the 1720s, such as the Window tax, the Septennial Act and current styles in perukes.