After thirty years with the police, Reiker needs a change, and opens a private detective's office in Mittelstadt, Victorian-era Germany just before Christmas. Strange events occur before he's even unpacked. Reiker's supposed to have an apartment upstairs, but things keep going wrong. The office is a mess, previous tenant left under mysterious circumstances, the fireplace is blocked, the apartment is suddenly unavailable, and a nest of psychotic field mice occupy the closet. A mysterious beauty shows up and drops dead. A seedy nightclub of crossed lives and treacherous lies holds many secrets. And his new client isn't even human. Paranormal paths cross, clues arise, but which are real? Reiker enlists the help of Nyx halflings Wolf and Lora Ley, and soon finds himself embroiled in a double-crossing scheme of diamonds, intrigue and murder.