The late 1880’s London provides a backdrop of change and inventions, including the making of a mad man who terrified London with his brutal back-alley murders.
The upper class, while superficially maintaining an air of purity and social distinction, is not without a plight of its own. This is the story of the widowed Arabaya, Viscountess Westbrook, who has no intention of sitting idly watching the world pass her by. An intelligent, witty woman, she is not content to accept the role required by society in Victorian England.
Adopting the persona of Madam Paradis, reader of the Nordic Runes, Arabi trail blazes her way into romance, espionage, murder, and a quest to solve a mysterious puzzle that has eluded treasure hunters for two hundred years.