Mr. Timothy Cratchit, his father recently buried, embarks on the next phase of his life intent on two things: to rid himself of his image as a pitied cripple and to escape the financial shackles of his benevolent "Uncle" Ebenezer by vanishing into the thick of London's teeming underbelly. Plunging into the rolling brown fog of 1860's London, through filthy back alleys and boarding houses, Tim succeeds-or so he thinks-in sidestepping his past. But fate deals him a cruel blow when he discovers the bodies of two dead girls, each seared with the same cruel brand on the upper arm. Unable to forget their horror-stricken death masks and spurred on by a street-smart, homeless boy who calls himself Colin the Melodious, Timothy finds himself on the trail of something far worse-and far more dangerous-than an ordinary killer.
