New York, 1899. American heiress Isabella Hartwell has barely returned to Fifth Avenue when murder interrupts her homecoming. Christopher "Kit" Bailey has crossed the Atlantic with dreams of conquering Broadway, accompanied by a talented young actress he is certain will become its newest star. Within a day, she is arrested for the murder of a notorious newspaper columnist, and the evidence against her is damning. Desperate, Kit turns to his sworn nemesis, the formidable Dowager Countess of Pembroke. The dowager wants nothing to do with him. Unfortunately for her, Isabella is intrigued. She soon discovers that the dead man made his living trading in other people's secrets, giving actors, producers, politicians and some of New York's most respectable families good reason to want him silenced.

As the newspapers seize on Isabella's involvement and Fifth Avenue society begins whispering her name for all the wrong reasons, she must expose a killer before her search for the truth makes her New York's most notorious heiress.