Behind the virtues of polite society, there are secrets worth killing for.

London, 1759.

When a charmless civil servant takes his own life, few are interested in his death. But Lizzie Hardwicke, harlot and informer for the magistrate, is desperate to satiate her curiosity and find out why.

Lizzie’s search for answers takes her from the smoke-filled rooms of fashionable gambling houses, where politicians mix ambition with pleasure, to the violent streets of Soho. All the while, she is navigating her complicated feelings for the magistrate’s assistant, Willam Davenport, and secretly planning her retirement from her increasingly dangerous life at Mrs Farley’s Bawdy House. 

But when the gambling house owner is brutally murdered, Lizzie finds herself tangled in a web of affairs far more complex than she had ever imagined. The darkest of secrets threaten to turn Davenport against her forever and if exposed, could send Lizzie to the gallows. 

Viper in the Nest is the latest instalment of the gripping and vividly imagined Lizzie Hardwicke mystery series.

Perfect for fans of Agatha Christie and Enola Holmes, echoing the atmospheric pull of a Nancy Drew–esque mystery.