Cribb

After a series of accidents to performers, Cribb and Thackeray enter the music hall scene where they uncover the existence of late-night secret performances for wealthy spectators.

When headless male corpses are found floating in the river, the common link is scarred hands, which points to participation in illegal bare-knuckle boxing.

A key player in London's vice world is found dead in one of his own brothels. An unreliable witness with a score to settle claims to know the murderer but wants to make a deal with the police.

The Pedestrian Championship of the World is taking place in London, and Cribb and Thackeray are on hand to prevent foul play between the various competitors.

When Cribb accompanies Thackeray to the countryside wedding of an old friend of his father to a much younger woman, he soon begins to suspect that the intentions of the bride and her family are not entirely honourable.

Two robberies at the homes of medium patrons seem rather more than coincidence, and Cribb is called to investigate a death certainly not perpetrated by somebody from the spirit world.