Publisher's Synopsis
At the inaugural ball, Lincoln's trusted entourage is on their guard. Allan Pinkerton, head of the president's security team, is wary of potential assassins. And Lincoln's oldest friend, Joshua Speed, is by his side; along with Speed's nephew, Adam Quinn, called back from the Kansas frontier to serve as the president's assistant and a jack-of-all-trades. Despite the tight security, trouble comes nonetheless--a man is found stabbed to death in a nearby room, only yards from the president. Not wishing to cause alarm, Lincoln dispatches young Quinn--instead of the high-profile Pinkerton--to discreetly investigate. Could the proximity of the murder possibly be a coincidence? Or is the crime directly related to Lincoln himself--possibly a political act? Quinn's observation skills as a frontier scout come in handy as he examines the victim and begins a complex investigation. Though he is new to Washington, D.C., he must navigate through high society, political personages, and a city preparing for war in order to solve the crime. He finds an unexpected ally in a determined female journalist named Sophie, who lives in the Smithsonian with her uncle Joseph Henry--the nation's most pre-eminent scientist--and is determined to go where no female reporter has gone before. Quinn--along with Sophie Henry--must make haste to solve the murder to protect the president he's pledged to serve. With the shadow of war looming on the horizon, there's no margin for error as no less than the fate of the nation may be at stake . . .
