Illusion of the Jack of Hearts

In London in November 1893, a woman is found sawn in half in a narrow alley, laid in a magician’s coffin with a white rose in her hands and a Jack of Hearts promising she is the first of six.

Inspector Tobias Flint of Scotland Yard sees the murder as a precise staging of an illusion created by the long-dead Magnificent Maguire, while the press names the killer the Coffin Conjurer.

Presumed dead since the fire that killed her father, Jaqueline "Jack" Maguire has spent fifteen years in hiding, using sleight of hand, misdirection, and disguise to power a private investigation agency that protects women society overlooks.

After the killer turns her father’s illusions into a blueprint for murder and sends her the card that was once his nickname for her, Flint catches her searching his office and refuses to let her disappear.

Forced into partnership, the amateur sleuth and the Scotland Yard inspector move from enmity toward a slow-burning romance while racing a signature killer who remains ten steps ahead and has already chosen Jack for the final act.