Nellie Coker, maven of the gin-soaked Soho nightclub scene of 1926 London, is released after a six-month stint in prison. Meanwhile, the bodies of girls from her clubs keep washing up on the shores of the Thames, and Detective Inspector Frobisher suspects an extensive web of corruption behind the brutal murders. Enter Gwendolen Kelling, a former librarian searching the city for a friend's sister, and an eager volunteer for a dangerous undercover mission. With Jazz Age London and all its glamour and seediness as a glittering backdrop, this masterfully atmospheric read offers a fizzy cocktail of humor, intrigue, romance, and realism. (AG)