John Rawlings is among the beau monde enjoying a performance of 'The Beggar's Opera' in Drury Lane when the leading actor - the notorious philanderer Jasper Harcross - dramatically falls to his death on stage. As Rawlings and the Blind Beak hunt for vital clues, they discover a hotbed of rivalry both on and off the stage which produces numerous suspects and questions.As the search takes on a new intensity, John Rawlings soon finds himself on an intriguing trail of obsession that leads to the dark heart of a cold-blooded murder.