The year is 1924 and Lieutenant Eric Peterkin, son of a British general and Chinese immigrant, is a new member of the Britannia ― London’s most prestigious club. It's a family tradition, but an honor he's not sure he quite deserves. So, when a gentleman's wager ends with one man dead in the vault under the club, Eric is only too ready to tackle the mystery head-on. Eric’s quest to resolve the murder quickly becomes an investigation of a mysterious wartime disappearance. It draws him far from the marbled halls of the Britannia, to the shadowy remains of a dilapidated war hospital to the heroin dens of Limehouse. Eric faces a Matryoshka doll of murder, vice, and secrets pointing not only to the officers of his own club but the very investigator assigned by Scotland Yard.

For the cover design, our cover cooks initially followed a nostalgic dime store recipe to give the book a pulp-like or trade paperback feel that would appeal to fans of the genre. However, an eminently graphic cover with Art Deco aesthetic elements was more attractive to the editor. The combination of bold typography and ornamental patterns imitate the gilded stamping of books of the period while lattice-like geometric lines provide a subtle Chinese twist. The stylized bowler hat and dicky bow combined with an oversized mustache brings, in the editor's words, “a fun cover that blends classic whodunits with a modern sensibility, while feeling as British as tea and crumpets.”