Shadow at the Morgue (Spencer & Reid Mysteries #1)

An acquaintance with death

Haunted by the unsolved murder of her family fifteen years ago, Leonora Spencer has always been familiar with death. And now, as an assistant to her uncle in his London morgue, she uses her photographic memory to catalogue details for his coroner’s reports. When a thief steals a seemingly worthless locket off a young woman’s corpse but leaves valuable jewels behind, Leo is determined to understand why—even if it means going against Detective Inspector Jasper Reid’s express orders to keep her nose out of it.

A closely guarded past

Born and bred on the streets, Jasper Reid’s recent promotion to the detective’s branch at Scotland Yard is a long step up from his murky past, and he’s resolved to prove he earned his chance fair and square. The last thing he needs is a convoluted case concerning the well-known eccentric Leo Spencer. And to make matters worse—the criminals he once associated with as a lad may also be involved.

A murderer closing in

When the missing locket and a handful of suspicious deaths point to a mysterious buried object that could ruin a prominent figure, Jasper grudgingly accepts Leo’s help to locate it. But after another break-in at the morgue, they realize someone is watching them, and the more they uncover about a deadly blackmail plot, the closer Leo and Jasper get to becoming the killer’s next targets.

Shadow at the Morgue is the first book in Cara Devlin’s new Spencer & Reid historical mystery series.