A scarred barman turned copper star, the birth of the NYPD, gangs, murder, brothels and bedlam in the dark underworld of nineteenth-century New York. Timothy Wilde - copper star, tough with a warm heart, learning his craft as a detective. Valentine Wilde - Timothy's gregarious, glamorous, depraved rogue of a brother. Mercy Underhill - The intelligent, creative but unstable love of Timothy's life. Silky Marsh - The beautiful brothel owner whose scheming knows no bounds. Against the gritty backdrop of the notorious Five Points in 1848, Timothy Wilde is drawn yet again into a disturbing mystery, leading him to the heart of the Bowery girls, the original 'factory girls' in downtown Manhattan. Someone is starting fires on the streets of New York and Timothy has to unravel a knot of revenge, murder and blackmail if he's to find out who is behind it all and stop them before the whole city goes up in flames...