London, 1891. Dirigibles, like dark leviathans, surge through the sooty skies of London. Steam powers the engines that supply electricity to the new lights along the Thames. And strange murder appears on the seamy streets.

Someone is killing women and gutting them for their body parts. Is it Jack the Ripper returned, or a far more sinister plot afoot than murder?

Magician Leopold Kazsmer, the Great Enchanter, ashamed of his Jewish-Gypsy blood, has fashioned himself into a proper English gentleman, though he harbors a carefully guarded secret; he has learned the dangerous art of summoning daemons and through it, performs real magic.

With the help of Raj, a tarot-reading automated man, and Eurynomos, a shrewd Jewish daemon, Leopold must discover what is behind the revolting murders that suddenly seem to involve tight-lipped German scientists, Golems in a plot of world domination, ghosts, demons, and the beautiful Scotland Yard Special Inspector, Mingli Zhao. Is she truly from the secret depths of Scotland Yard or is she instead a heartless spy and murderess?

Autorentext

L.A. native Jeri Westerson has been a journalist, a theology teacher, and graphic artist, among other things. As a novelist, she combined the medieval with the hard-boiled and came up with her own brand of medieval mystery she calls Medieval Noir. Her brooding protagonist, Crispin Guest, is a disgraced knight turned detective on the mean streets of fourteenth century London. Her sixth book, SHADOW OF THE ALCHEMIST, was named the Best of 2013 by Suspense Magazine. Her latest, CUP OF BLOOD has already garnered critical acclaim. Jeri's Crispin Guest books have been nominated for a variety of industry awards, from the Agatha to the Shamus. She is president of the Southern California chapter of Mystery Writers of America and a member of several writing organizations. Jeri speaks all over the southland about medieval history, including as a guest lecturer at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana and Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, CA. When not writing, Jeri dabbles in gourmet cooking, likes fine wines, cheap chocolate, and swoons over anything British. She herds two cats, a tortoise, a bevy of bees, and the occasional tarantula at her home in southern California. See more at JeriWesterson.com